Jess Blake

Also known as Jess Dyson
  • Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
Federation-era cartoonist, Jess Blake was a member of the talented Dyson family - her siblings included writer Edward, cartoonists Ambrose and Will and fashion designer Ett. Blake caused a family uproar when she married Harry Blake at 17 and already four months pregnant.
Name
Jess Blake
Also known as Jess Dyson
Gender
Female
Roles
  • Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
Active Period
  • c.1907-
Languages
  • English
Is Indigenous
No
Initial Record Data Source
  • Black and white artists

black and white artist, was the youngest member of the talented Dyson family, the sister of writer Edward, cartoonists Ambrose and Will and fashion designer Ett Dyson. Jess, 'an amusing livewire’, married Harry Blake when she was seventeen and already four months pregnant. Brother Will commented:

Never did a girl enter upon the grave responsibilities of matrimony with so careless a heart. I have seen the sex display more concern over the setting up of a doll’s house. However… she finds that a great many desirable things into £2-5-0 a week won’t go (quoted McMullin, p.42).

Jess’s very Norman Lindsay -ish drawing of a line of gambolling koalas being led across the land by a goblin Pied Piper was commended in the Bookfellow’s 'Decorative Drawing Competition-Headpieces and Tailpieces’ held in 1907 (ill. Bookfellow 18 April 1907, 8).

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Writers:
Kerr, Joan
Date written:
1996
Last updated:
2007
sibling of
Edward Ambrose Dyson
1908
Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator), Artist (Painter)
sibling of
Ambrose Dyson
1876
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
sibling of
Will Dyson
1880
Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
associate of
Norman Lindsay
1879
Artist
associate of
Ambrose Dyson
1876
Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
associate of
Will Dyson
1880
Artist (Printmaker), Artist (Painter), Artist (Cartoonist / Illustrator)
sibling of
Ett Dyson
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
spouse of
Harry Blake
Non-Artist/Designer/Curator
Citations:
  • McMullin, Ross, (1984), Will Dyson, (Place: Sydney, NSW : Angus & Robertson, p.42)