Object of the Day: Invest Your Money in Punch!

I love his smile. There’s something about Mr. Punch’s smile that I find very appealing. I’m surrounded by smiling Punchinellos, as you all know. And, no matter the maker or the medium, somehow, they all have the same smile—a grin of intelligence, mischief, and, yet…there’s a reassurance in it also. He’s reassuring you that though his antics may seem wild, it’s all going to work out.

Take a look at Punch’s smile on this handsome vintage letter opener which was given to me for Christmas. There he is, looking quite smart in brilliant enamels on brass, his face set against a raised “wax” seal. Beneath his bi-corned hat, we see his sparkling eyes and that reassuringly wild smile.

This letter opener was made as an incentive to advertisers to place ads in Punch Magazine. Just a way to keep Punch in front of potential advertisers’ eyes… 

The metal is inscribed:

NEVER SPECULATE IN ADVERTISING BUT “INVEST” YOUR MONEY IN PUNCH 
THE PROVED AND TRIED DIVIDEND-PAYER 

Well, I think that’s very reasonable, indeed.

I just love this item. Looking at his little red face gives me great joy and inspiration. So, it’s nice to know he’s still serving his purpose, even in the following century.

Object of the Day: A Georgian Page-Turner

Crafted of thin maple, this page-turner dates to the late Eighteenth or early Nineteenth Century during the reigns of King George III and King George IV. The page-turner is inlaid with exotic woods to form a Greek key pattern which frames a mythological scene. Items such as this were used to turn the pages of manuscripts to avoid dirtying them with fingers. The pointed end of the page-turner served as a paper knife to separate pages that had not been cut. Often pages in a manuscript or in a book were bound and delivered uncut on the edges and needed to be sliced in order to be read.

My guess is that the decorative scene represents the Greek myth of Prometheus who was punished by Zeus by being bound to the rocks where an eagle ate his liver which would grow back—only to be eaten again, day-after-day. Not the most cheerful image, but very nicely inlaid.

I love objects such as this. Sure, we have paper knives now and some of them are very pretty. But, who thinks about having a “page-turner” to keep their books clean? Ah, but how many people out there think about books at all? I guess this is the Georgian equivalent of the little cloth that one would use to wipe off an iPad.