Anyone any idea on identity of this couple, photo on an old British made postcard. Maybe music hall, maybe street entertainers, maybe just photographers studio
Father and daughter performers, looks like, and Rom fits. They were probably on the Vaudeville circuit and I have no clue of the names.
I agree, probably intended to look Romany, rather than actually being romany. The instruments are a 6-string banjo-guitar or guitar-banjo, and an 8-string mandolin-banjo or banjo-mandolin. Both look likely to be of English manufacture; the slotted headpiece on a banjo-guitar is common on old English instruments. The mandolin-banjo construction, with a drum-head inside a resonating chamber, and the neck attached to the resonator, rather than being attached to the drum as in a normal banjo, is very distinctly English.
V grateful for all comments so far, and a bit in awe at the banjo-guitar details! Just mention that the players appear to be on a sheet, there is a gap between the edge of the sheet and the canvas scenery and it looks like grass. This may be a park scene.
Yes, the gap and the way it is not hanging quite right are some of the things that I like about it. And also enjoyed reading and learning from the information that all_fakes wrote!
I have a "banjolin" like the one pictured; a common construction in England around 1900-1920 for banjo-ukes and banjo-mandolins; rarely used on regular banjos because it is not a very strong construction method.
Try contacting these people: http://www.themusichallguild.com/ Really delightful to deal with and very helpful. (I've music hall family.) I think this is also specifically Hungarian Romany.
