Mystery of the Missing Masterpiece



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In the Dining Room at Home Hill are four framed pencil cartoons on cartridge paper by the famous author G.K.Chesterton It is believed they had been presented to T.R.H. Joseph Lyons by Chesterton's wife, Frances Blogg. The cartoons have always been somewhat of a mystery as each has a caption referring to personages such as ‘Sir Henry Bensington’, ‘Dr. Edward Mowlem M.B.F.C.’ and ‘The Duke of Emonsillado’. While it was thought these images might have been included in some form of political commentary of the day initial research was unable to identify any of these names.

Recently the cartoons were temporarily removed from their frames as part of the Trust’s on-going conservation programme. When examined in detail one was found to have the words ‘Missing Masterpiece’ scrawled on the back in pencil.

Another had the text that appeared to say: ‘Opposite Chap 1 Page 6 in Typescript’.

This seemed to imply that the cartoons were designed to be submitted to a publisher as illustrations for a manuscript. While Chesterton was known to have illustrated his own works nothing could be found that matched the names listed on the cartoons or entitled ‘Missing Masterpiece’.

A wider search for any volume entitled ‘Missing Masterpiece’ by any author at all turned up the novel ‘The Missing Masterpiece’ by Hilaire Belloc, published by Arrowsmith books of London in 1927. Belloc was known to be an associate of Chesterton and 1927 was during the period in which he was writing.

As a result a copy was obtained and three of the four cartoons were indeed found inside.

The purpose of the fourth cartoon remains a mystery. Unlike the other three the caption is handwritten in ink rather than typewritten. The caption appears to be:-
’Torture of Suspense suffered in the Plantagenet Court by the Defendant of the Truth & Justice ??? enquiries’, though other interpretations are possible.

Gilbert. K. Chesterton was an English writer, artist , social historian and philosopher. A friend of Oscar Wild and George Bernard Shaw and a very active member of the literary scene of the time. He is possibly most famous for the novel ‘The Napoleon of Notting Hill’ and his ‘Father Brown’ detective stories.

J. Hilaire P. R. Belloc was a French, later English, writer and social historian. He too produced a vast body of works. He was a long-time friend of Chesterton, sharing similar views on society and religion. They often worked together with Belloc producing a text and Chesterton providing the illustrations. ‘The Missing Masterpiece’ is a typical example of such collaboration.