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A man in drag with dark hair poses for a portrait, which is cropped and smudged. A portrait of 'Gertie', an otherwise unidentified concert party drag performer, dated 1916

The James Gardiner Collection. Photographs.

James Gardiner Collection: photographs of military, naval, and prisoner-of-war camp drag.

An man in drag as "Gertie" wearing a checked coat. Photographic postcard, 1916.

The men appear dressed as clowns except for the man in drag. They are members of the 'Personality' concert party, 'the official concert party for Mesopotamia', wearing costumes closely based on Pellissier's 'Follies'. Mesopotamia (later Iraq) was a province of the Ottoman Empire, and the opening of a theatre of operations there by the Allies was prompted by Turkey's entry into the war in October 1914

Soldiers, one in drag, performing in the concert party for Mesopotamia, posing around a piano. Photographic postcard by Hana Studios, 191-.

The men are heavily adorned with accessories including beads and earrings. The image is cropped focusing on the men's faces and upper body. 'Ethnic nudes' of both sexes form a category of postcard that has been eagerly collected since the 1900s

James Gardiner Collection: unlabelled photograph album.

1 photographic postcard  ;  8.9 x 13.9 cm

Three men of the Masai tribe. Photographic postcard by S. Skulina, 195-.

He is dressed in drag as a dowager, including accessories and jewellery, holding a black and white striped umbrella.

James Gardiner Collection: photograph album labelled Drag. 

James Gardiner Collection: photograph album labelled ‘Drag’.

1 print : process print, printed in blue ;  13.9 x 8.9 cm

A man in drag, wearing a large hat and veil, posing in a garden. 

Smallwood wears hastily put together drag and carries a mid-19th century carriage parasol. His partner wears a star and crescent on his hat
The two men represent "East meets West" according to an inscription by Harry (Smallwood, presumably). He may be one of the two men shown in the photograph (either the crossdresser or the Muslim). "A lesson given on the Sudan, by Mr Harry Smallwood, a former pupil of the Knighton Boys' School, who was then living in that country (June 1934)" (Colin P.F. Hughes, 'A history of schools in Radnorshire : the Knighton area', Radnorshire Society transactions, 1995, 65: p. 53)

Harry Smallwood and another man stand in a field, one in drag and the other wearing Turkish inspired costume. Photographic postcard, 1925-.

A marble bust of Caracalla. A cartouche with lettering "Collezione Farnese Roma" appears to have been incised on the cloak

1 photographic postcard  ;  13.8 x 8.8 cm

Caracalla. Photographic postcard, 192-.

James Gardiner Collection: romantic fantasy and comic postcards, and photographs on gender and masculinity.

James Gardiner Collection: Romantic fantasy and comic postcards, and photographs on gender and masculinity.

A portrait of Viscount Castlereagh. Process print, 19--, after Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Actors in an amateur theatrical performance in Brighton; Remlaf is a palindrome of Falmer, a place near Brighton. Identities of cast members are inscribed in pencil on verso of the postcard.

Actors in pantomime in Brighton: S. West playing King Robert of Remlaf and H. Taylor in drag as Queen Aggie of Remlaf. Photographic postcard.

They are dancing on a stage in front of a painted backdrop. Men dancing together under different sets of circumstances do not seem to have been particularly remarkable in the early twentieth century. There are pictures of Argentinian men dancing the tango, sailors on board ship dancing together, and so on (James Gardiner)

1 print : process print, printed in colours ;  13.7 x 8.7 cm

Two Dutch men dancing together, accompanied by an accordionist. Colour process print, 190-.

A print of the painting "Les baigneurs du Tibre" by Georges Paul Leroux, where several young men are bathing on the edge of the river. A Paris Salon painting of 1909, which would appear to carry an intentional homoerotic charge

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An man in drag as "Gertie" wearing a checked coat. Photographic postcard, 1916.

Soldiers, one in drag, performing in the concert party for Mesopotamia, posing around a piano. Photographic postcard by Hana Studios, 191-.

Three men of the Masai tribe. Photographic postcard by S. Skulina, 195-.

A man in drag, wearing a large hat and veil, posing in a garden.

Harry Smallwood and another man stand in a field, one in drag and the other wearing Turkish inspired costume. Photographic postcard, 1925-.

Caracalla. Photographic postcard, 192-.

A portrait of Viscount Castlereagh. Process print, 19--, after Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Actors in pantomime in Brighton: S. West playing King Robert of Remlaf and H. Taylor in drag as Queen Aggie of Remlaf. Photographic postcard.

Two Dutch men dancing together, accompanied by an accordionist. Colour process print, 190-.

Young men bathing naked in the Tiber. Process print after Georges Paul Leroux, 1909.

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An man in drag as "Gertie" wearing a checked coat. Photographic postcard, 1916.

Soldiers, one in drag, performing in the concert party for Mesopotamia, posing around a piano. Photographic postcard by Hana Studios, 191-.

Three men of the Masai tribe. Photographic postcard by S. Skulina, 195-.

A man in drag, wearing a large hat and veil, posing in a garden.

Harry Smallwood and another man stand in a field, one in drag and the other wearing Turkish inspired costume. Photographic postcard, 1925-.

Caracalla. Photographic postcard, 192-.

A portrait of Viscount Castlereagh. Process print, 19--, after Sir Thomas Lawrence.

Actors in pantomime in Brighton: S. West playing King Robert of Remlaf and H. Taylor in drag as Queen Aggie of Remlaf. Photographic postcard.

Two Dutch men dancing together, accompanied by an accordionist. Colour process print, 190-.

Young men bathing naked in the Tiber. Process print after Georges Paul Leroux, 1909.

Stay in the know

Wellcome collectionWellcome Collection

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