At the top we have the portrait paintings again.
Below, left, are the portraits as shown on the 1939 Broons book cover.
In the middle we have the painted portraits overlaid on a yellow background.
On the right we have the painted portraits laid over the book cover portraits for direct comparison.

It is clear these portraits are not the same ones used on the cover of the 1939 Broons book. One explanation for their existance is that, being painted for the cover of the first The Broons book in 1939, these may have been among Watkins first attempts at rendering the characters in paint and these were simply alternative, or rejected, versions of the portraits.

I am happy to accept these are genuine works by Dudley Watkins but it is still unclear how these alternative portraits came to exist, when they were painted or if there are others in the set. I would be happy to hear from anyone who can contribute information.

E-mail: gavin@thatsbraw.co.uk