Object of the Day: A Victorian Trade Card with Metallic Ink

Some Nineteenth Century publishers and printers produced attractive cards which were not intended for specific companies or advertisers.  These more generic cards were just as handsome and collectible as their branded brethren, but could be printed or stamped on the reverse for independent concerns, shops or retailers.  Every so often, I’ll come across one that had been purchased, probably with others in bulk, to be used by a shop owner, but was never stamped on the reverse.  Here’s one.

I chose this card for today since Fridays are always devoted, in large part, to the history of Mr. Punch and his puppet kin.  While this image is not directly Punch-related, it does depict a scene of a boy and his dog which puts me in mind of our Mr. Punch and Dog Toby.

This is an excellent example of the use of metallic inks which had become quite fashionable in the late Nineteenth Century.  Silver, gold and copper-toned inks added shimmer to the printing process and I appreciate that the silver background of this card still retains its sheen.  Metallic inks such as this silver gave depth to a chromolithograph and, when combined with a primarily monochromatic composition like this one, added an illusion of dimension which is just as alluring today as it would have been in the 1880s.