Precious Time: The Goujon Watch and Pair Case, c. 1730

Click Image to Enlarge
Watch and Pair Case
Made in London, c. 1730
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made around 1730, this embossed and chased gold watch and pair case is signed (on the movement’s dust cap) “Gerret Bramer, Amsterdam.” The case is embossed with a scene which was modeled after Gérard de Lairesse’s image of Cleopatra just as she is about to dissolve the pearl before Anthony.

The chasing is signed “H Manly fecit” and both cases are marked “SG” for Stephen Goujon of London who served as the maker of the case.

The watch with its ¼ repeating movement was made in London by Goujon and decorated by Manly for export to Amsterdam where it was sold by the retailed Geret Bramer.  This gorgeous timepiece features a stem set with a diamond and diamonds mounted on the face and hands.  

Father Christmas Through The Ages: A Victorian Christmas Postcard

Click on image to see our friend.

Today's "Santa" object comes from my very own collection of ephemera!  It's actually a HUGE collection and it rather needs sorting, but, that'll have to wait until 2014.

I can’t make out the year on the postmark, but I’d say this postcard was mailed in the early 1900s. It has all the hallmarks of an Edwardian Christmas postcard with nods to the past and “the future.” Father Christmas is, instead of a sleigh, driving a roadster. It’s loaded with toys, but, I’ll bet you can guess which of them is the reason I have this card.

Yup. There he is! Playing the cymbals. It’s our Mr. Punch. Punch and Santa, it seems, have a long history together. 

It’s really quite a lovely card, beautifully printed and embossed. And, the Christmas wish from Anna, whoever she was, is just as pleasant now as when she sent it to friends in Omaha.

Object of the Day: A Victorian Christmas Postcard

Click on image to see our friend.

I can’t make out the year on the postmark, but I’d say this postcard was mailed in the early 1900s. It has all the hallmarks of an Edwardian Christmas postcard with nods to the past and “the future.” Father Christmas is, instead of a sleigh, driving a roadster. It’s loaded with toys, but, I’ll bet you can guess which of them is the reason I have this card.

Yup. There he is! Playing the cymbals. It’s our Mr. Punch. Punch and Santa, it seems, have a long history together. 

It’s really quite a lovely card, beautifully printed and embossed. And, the Christmas wish from Anna, whoever she was, is just as pleasant now as when she sent it to friends in Omaha.

Precious Time: The Goujon Watch and Pair Case, c. 1730

Click Image to Enlarge
Watch and Pair Case
Made in London, c. 1730
This and all related images from:
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made around 1730, this embossed and chased gold watch and pair case is signed (on the movement’s dust cap) “Gerret Bramer, Amsterdam.” The case is embossed with a scene which was modeled after Gérard de Lairesse’s image of Cleopatra just as she is about to dissolve the pearl before Anthony.

The chasing is signed “H Manly fecit” and both cases are marked “SG” for Stephen Goujon of London who served as the maker of the case.

The watch with its ¼ repeating movement was made in London by Goujon and decorated by Manly for export to Amsterdam where it was sold by the retailed Geret Bramer.  This gorgeous timepiece features a stem set with a diamond and diamonds mounted on the face and hands.  

Object of the Day: A Bi-fold Card for H. O'Neill & Co.

Please click the image to enlarge.  It's really quite pretty.

This embossed chromolithograph beauty is like the Queen of the Trade Cards. A bi-fold, die-cut card, it’s only printed on the obverse and opens to reveal two portraits of 1880s lasses in all their finery. Expertly printed, the card has all the bells and whistles. Aside from its brilliant color and embossing, it also sports metallic gold ink for added dimension. The publisher was Sackett, Wilhelms and Betzig of 145 and 147 Mulberry Street in New York.

Since the illustrations do not include specific mention to a product or to the business in question, we can deduce that the card was produced to be customized at the printer after being selected by the advertiser. In this instance, the card was selected as a premium by:

H. O’NEILL & CO. 

321 to 329 

SIXTH AVENUE 

COR. 20th ST.

*  

NEW YORK 

Image from the
Flatiron 23rd Street Partnership
Flatironbid.com

That’s rather a good location and, a large store, so it’s safe to say that the store was quite successful. Let’s see what we can find out about the store. An 1886 ad tells us that the business located in the handsome cast iron building with its impressive towers, central pediment and intricate corbels (the building remains to this day, thankfully) was once the home of a mercantile opened by Hugh O’Neill which marketed ““Fine Millinery, Fancy Goods, Lace & Gloves, Etc.” Well, that rather explains the emphasis in the images on the card—hats and trimmings as well as baubles, gloves and fans. The business was a champion of printed advertising and circulated hundreds of thousands of yearly catalogs as well as beautiful, collectible cards such as this one. An organization devoted to this part of New York—the Flatiron District—offers this photo of the building. You can learn more at the website of the Flatiron 23rd Street Partnership: FlatIronBid.com.

The name of the vendor is printed in the two golden roundels beneath the portraits of fashionable young ladies. Each is adorned with a popular subject of the era—one, a singing birdie, and, the other a nosegay. The whole thing is just so wholly Victorian and lovely I can hardly stand it.

Print of the Day: The Morning Glory Greetings Card, c. 1865

Greetings Card
Germany
1850-1875
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Made in Germany between 1850 and 1875, this attractive greetings card depicts female figures dressed in flower costumes, probably meant to represent the morning glory.

In the Victorian “Language of Flowers,” the morning glory suggested affection, and, so, these young ladies have been depicted in poses which similarly allude to affection. The card is part of a series which personifies flowers, assigning each the characteristics of the emotion which they were thought to represent.

This chromolithograph is embossed and features the paper-lace edging which was a hallmark of these German cards of the era.