Allow me to introduce you to Margot Burke. She was a model when this photograph was taken in 1922 and is captioned ‘modeling for automobile advertisement’. That makes me think America, but the car looks British and right hand drive.. The controls on the steering column look like Morris, but the steering wheel looks wrong, and there’s no bulb horn visible. Will someone help me here?
The most interesting discovery is the photographer, Emil Otto Hoppé, a German living in Britain who worked from 1907 and 1945 and has only recently achieved the fame he deserves after an American company bought the UK picture library which bought Hoppé’s images and filed them under subject and not artist. So his talent lay hidden for decades.
But I am neglecting my manners – it is Margot who is the focus of our attention and with those arresting eyes, who can resist her invitation to sit beside her and join her on a journey of discovery? Hoppé shares another image of our friday lady here in more delicate feminine dress reading your note , which accompanied the flowers, thanking her for such a wonderful adventure.
(text Robin Batchelor, photos courtesy E.O. Hoppé estate collection)