Drawing og Kelly's body in situ - IPN

[Chris Scott]

Today I have been looking through some November issues of IPN (Illustrated Police News) and some of the smaller cover drawings tucked way in the corners are easy to overlook.
The one below is from 24 November 1888 and shows Kelly's body in situ. I have enlarged and slightly enhanced this. This shows the head of the bed well away from the wall behind the headboard. The table with the sections of flesh is clearly shown but also another two level table or possibly small dresser to the extreme right.
This drawing, which looks to have been done standing in (or just inside) the doorway, gives me the impression of Kelly's body being laid across the bed at a much sharper angle than in the famous photograph - almost diagonally across the bed.
Chris S

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Chris!

Yes, and the sheets are on her body.

Still, one cannot help asking the following question;

Was the illustrator really on the spot?!

All the best
Jukka

[spyglass]

HI all,
Intresting picture, and one I have'nt seen before.

Does anyone think that because it was done by a police artist for a police publication, there is a good chance it being more accurate then newspaper efforts.
I know it does'nt reflect what we see in the murder scene photo, but then I have often questioned whether the body had been touched or moved before the photo's were taken.

[Stephen Thomas]

The table with the sections of flesh is clearly shown but also another two level table or possibly small dresser to the extreme right.
This drawing, which looks to have been done standing in (or just inside) the doorway, gives me the impression of Kelly's body being laid across the bed at a much sharper angle than in the famous photograph - almost diagonally across the bed.
Chris S

The drawing was obviously done from 'life' or perhaps from a lost police photo.

And very poignant it is too.

That dressing table behind the bed must have been there though it doesn't show on the photos we have today.

[Chris Scott]

Hi Stephen
Thanks for the message
The pic you post from Reynolds is a very interesting comparison and here it is at larger size for folks to compare with the IPN version
Chris

[j.r-ahde]

Hello Chris!

I just cannot help saying, that impression of the size of the room is larger than one could estimate from the crime scene photo!

All the best
Jukka

[richardnunweek]

Hi.
When looking at these sketches, ones first thought is the whole room looks out of proportion and items have been shifted around somewhat.
The washstand which appears in one sketch behind the bed aginst the wall was originally against the pertition wall to the right of kellys bed, giving the impression that the bed was moved futher down the room by the police, and against the wall, thus moving the wash stand behind the bed.
I am puzzled that another table near the window is present, that surely was not in any inventory we have seen.
The original positioning of the washbasin, and the type of bed shown[ which surely is accurate] would indicate that when Barnett shared the room with Mary, he slept on the side nearest the door, leaving Mary next to the wall.
The reason being is when Joseph was working as a fish porter , he would have been first out of bed making it more convenient to sleep on that side,as the wash-stand,would make it difficult to exit from that side of the bed.
The boots have always intrested me, they appear to have been kicked off, in direct line to the fireplace, and that has always given me the impression that the fire was alight when she did this, which would not be so if the killer lit it after killing her.
Regards Richard.

[Garry Wroe]

Does anyone think that because it was done by a police artist for a police publication, there is a good chance it being more accurate then newspaper efforts.

Despite its name, Spyglass, the Illustrated Police News was not an official police publication. Rather, it was a weekly 'penny dreadful' that largely restricted its coverage to criminal cases - and the more sensational the better.

Regards.

Garry Wroe.

[Stephen Thomas]

A side by side look at the two drawings.

Same artist? I think not but who knows.

I reckon though that both are a true representation of the scene.

[Chris Scott]

Hi Stephen
Thanks for that side by side comparison - thought provoking
Whilst not an expert on artistic style, they certainly look to me as if done by different hands but there are certainly striking similarities
Chris S

[Chris]

Could it be that there was a bit of copying going on?

[Stephen Thomas]

Thanks for that side by side comparison - thought provoking
Whilst not an expert on artistic style, they certainly look to me as if done by different hands but there are certainly striking similarities

Hi Chris

Well, not so much side by side as I said but rather one on top of the other.

Ooh err, matron, the screens, the screens.

Here's a better crop of the Reynolds to correspond with the IPN pic.

[Esther Wilson]

I don't recall ever having seen these pics before. Thanks for posting them.

Esther

[Chris Scott]

Hi Chris
Do you mean one artist could have copied his drawing from the other or that both may have been copied from a lost original?
The Reynolds one was published first (18 November) and the IPN one 6 days later (24 November) but of course neither date of publication is any indication as to when the drawing was actually done.
To me, one factor against one drawing being a copy of the other is that not only do details differ but the whole perspective of the two drawings is at variance. If, for example, you look at the difference in parallax between the head and foot of the bed in the two drawinghs, it seems evident to me that the two drawing were made from two different positions
regards
Chris

[Chris]

Do you mean one artist could have copied his drawing from the other or that both may have been copied from a lost original?

I was wondering whether the Illustrated Police News picture could have been copied from the one in Reynolds's Newspaper.

I take your point about the perspectives being somewhat different, but I don't feel they are really consistent with each other in any case. Certainly the table looks closer to the bed in the IPN picture, but more seriously the body looks as though it's somehow propped up at an angle to the horizontal.

I wonder whether the IPN artist might have altered things to "improve" the composition.