Candy Packet (1971, Painting)

Reputed to be the last work by Pablo Picasso, Candy Packet has also been attributed to the master forger ‘Schulz’ of Vienna. Picasso was shown the work shortly before his death and dismissed it crudely, without commenting on whether or not he had painted it. Schulz also dismissed the work, saying a dog could have […]

Flap! (1981, Children’s Game)

Intended as a follow up to the hugely successful ‘Mousetrap‘ game, Flap! never got off the ground. Instead of trapping a mouse, Flap! involved luring a pigeon into a special basket with crumbs. The game of course lacked the popular-cultural niche Mousetrap was able to exploit thanks to Agatha Christie’s long-running play. There was a […]

Hold Still! (1969, Public Information Film)

This rarity was only ever screened in the West Country and parts of Kent, where there was a heavy apple crop. Children had taken to stealing windfalls, often at the risk of being stung by wasps, and the situation was sometimes made worse by a child trying to run from a wasp rather than calmly […]

Hilary Mental (1978, Punk Poet)

In the late 1970s author Hilary Mantel secretly returned from Botswana, where she had decided to live with her husband, geologist Gerald McEwan, to perform at the 100 Club with her friends Rat Scabies and Dave Vanian of the Damned. Scabies christened her ‘Mental’ after her fondness to dance naked in the audience after ‘bombing’ […]

Stonehouse (2004, book)

Taking its lead from the life of the troubled politician John Stonehouse, Stonehouse, a collection of psychoanalytic essays, explores how people’s names might affect their lives. Only 100 copies of the volume were ever printed, and the authors themselves remained anonymous having taken pseudonyms that were thought connected to the subject of the essay. Hence West, […]