1924 Boat Race Poster by Bernard Leslie Kearley, Kate M Burrell
For the 1924 boat race, the Underground Electric Railway Company (UERL), the company in control of London’s underground railway system commissioned artists Kate M Burrell and Bernard Leslie Kearley to provide the poster artwork. Both artists were regular contributors of poster designs to both the Underground Group and for London Transport. Burrell worked with the UERL for a decade between 1924 and 1934 and Kearley between 1924 and 1927. The two artists produced several art-deco influenced posters jointly, including the 1924 posters for Trooping The Colour, the May Day at Hyde Park poster, and this vintage 1924 Boat Race Poster.
This vintage Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race poster 1924, was produced to capitalise on the sheer amount of people likely to travel on the London’s Tube. Around a quarter of a million people, each year would line the banks of the River Thames to enjoy the world-famous rowing contest. The poster you can buy on this page is the design Burrell and Kearley created for the 1924 boat race.
It portrays the two university rivals rowing down the River Thames with the crowds on the City’s famous riverbank. In addition to the two rowing boats, other boats can be seen through the arches of a representation of the Hammersmith bridge. The poster states that the best or at least the ‘nearest stations’ to attend the event are Putney Bridge, Hammersmith and Chiswick Park.
Saturday 5th April 1924 Boat Race
The annual Boat Race between teams from Oxford and Cambridge Universities has been one of London’s most important sporting fixtures since it began in 1829. It was commonplace for up to 250,000 spectators to line both banks of the River Thames to watch the spectacle.
The 5th April 1924 boat race was the 76th time that University rivals Oxford and Cambridge would battle it out for supremacy of the 4 and a bit miles long Championship Course on the River Thames. Having won the 1923 race Oxford entered the race as reigning champions. They also led in overall victories beating Cambridge 40 wins to 34.
Cambridge won the race and passed the finishing post four and a half lengths ahead of Oxford, in a time of 18 minutes 41 seconds. It was the fastest winning time since the 1911 race and the second-fastest time in the history of the event. It was their fourth win in five years and brought the overall record to 40–35 in Oxford’s favour.
University Boat Race posters
The Oxford and Cambridge boat race was so popular and lucrative for the Underground Group that they would produce posters every year to promote the event. One of the earliest Boat Race Poster was produced for the 1913 contest. It was illustrated by the artist Charles Sharland. Since then many well-known poster artists including Percy Drake Brookshaw, Anna Katrina Zinkeisen, Anne Hickmott, Richard T Cooper and Charles Paine, have had a go at designing at least one poster for this prestigious event.
Where does the London boat race start and finish?
The London Boat Race starts at Putney and finishes at Mortlake in South West London. The race takes place over a 4 mile, 374 yards stretch of the River Thames known as the Championship Course. London’s famous Boat Race usually starts at Putney and is rowed upstream, timed to start on the incoming flood tide. In 1846, 1856, and 1863 the race was rowed in the opposite direction from Mortlake to Putney on the ebb tide. The race finish is just before Chiswick Bridge and is marked by the University Boat Race Stone on the Surrey bank and a race post on the Middlesex riverside.
