Nipper, also known as the RCA Victor dog, was a dog from Bristol, England. Bred as a terrier mix, he served as the model for a 1898 painting by British painter Francis Barraud titled His Master's Voice. This image became one of the world's best known trademarks, the famous dog-and-gramophone pairing that was used by several record companies and their associated company brands, including Berliner Gramophone and its various affiliates and successors, among them Berliner's German subsidiary Deutsche Grammophon; Berliner's American successor the Victor Talking Machine Co. ; Zonophone; Berliner's British affiliate the Gramophone Co. Ltd. and its successors EMI and HMV Retail Ltd.; the Gramophone Co.'s German subsidiary Electrola; and onetime Victor subsidiary the Japan Victor Company (JVC).
Photo of Francis Barraud's original 1898 His Master's Voice painting depicting an Edison cylinder phonograph
One of Barraud's many copies of His Master's Voice
1910 Deutsche Grammophon label on Swedish disc
1910 British Gramophone Company record label
Francis James Barraud was an English painter. He is best known for his work His Master's Voice, one of the most famous commercial logos in the world, having inspired a music industry trademark used by corporations including EMI, HMV, RCA Victor and JVC. The image, which depicts a dog named Nipper, ear cocked as he listens to a wind-up disc gramophone helped popularize the nascent field of sound recording and brought Barraud worldwide fame. He subsequently established himself as an artist for corporate clients, spending the rest of his career producing at least two dozen copies of the painting which made his name.
1922 photograph of Barraud with one of many copies of His Master's Voice
The original painting with the Edison Bell phonograph
Francis Barraud's blue plaque at 126 Piccadilly
3D model of His Masters Voice at the Musee des Ondes Emile Berliner