Woolley & Wallis Auctioneers is to auction jewellery belonging to east London music hall star Lupino Lane (1892-1959), the Antiques Trade Gazette reports.
Lane originally made his name as a child star, performing under the name Little Nipper (a title that stuck for the rest of his career).
Lupino Lane commissioned this jewellery for his wife, Violet
He was a member of the celebrated Lupino dynasty of entertainers, who arrived in London from Italy in the 1600s.
Lane’s biggest success came in 1937 as the star of the musical Me and My Girl, which featured his show stopping Lambeth Walk.
All of the jewellery featured in the sale dates to the late 1930s and early 1940s. Lane commissioned the pieces for his wife, Violet.
Most reference his performances. One brooch, valued at £3,000 ($4,000), reads “Sweetheart Mine” – the name of a 1940 stage show.
Another brooch simply reads: “Oi”, a commonly bellowed phrase in London that appears in the chorus to the Lambeth Walk.
At one performance, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth were seen to gamely shout “Oi” along with the rest of the audience.
It was this phrase that led to Me and My Girl being banned in Nazi Germany for its perceived link to the Jewish expression of frustration “Oy Vey”.
Confusingly these two phrases are used in quite different contexts, a subtlety lost on the Nazis.
All of the items in the January 25 sale are consigned from the collection of Lane’s granddaughter.
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