Object of the Day: Forget Me Not

 Click on image to forget.  Or not.

Hmmm...where to begin? This isn't a trade card per se. It's not a calling card or even a visiting card. It's simply a pretty little chromolithograph printed on card stock. Now, I do believe that this could have been used as a trade card. It looks like the sort which were available for over-printing or reverse printing through catalogs. But, this just wasn't a run-of-the-mill stock card. This one is beautifully embossed. This would have made printing on the reverse rather awkward, but that never stopped them.

This was the preferred Victorian image-- Cupid or some random putto (or perhaps just a winged baby, who can tell?) surrounded by a variety of symbolic flowers (none of which, oddly enough, is a forget-me-not), sitting on a quasi-funereal plinth, wistfully carving some sweet message into a tabula rassa with one of his arrows. On the plinth below him is inscribed "Forget me Not."

Regardless if this unused card was made as a blank trade card or as a never-used affectionate greeting, it is gorgeously printed. These bright, rich colors are, to me, the epitome of Victorian printing. Furthermore, the embossing is exceptional. A chromolithograph in relief of this quality doesn't seem to be the work of late Nineteenth-Century American printers. I'd say this was European.

Sculpture of the Day: Cupid, the Organ Grinder, 1750-55

The Victoria and Albert Museum

Here, we have a figure of Cupid as an organ-grinder. He is sitting on a tree-trunk, and his green trousers are slipping down in the back. A fan of the nudity, is Cupid.

What’s particularly peculiar is that he’s using a cat as an organ. I don’t know why. Cranking a cat by the tail will produce a noise. But, not one you'd want to hear.

But, this is certainly very Rococo. And, it’s also quite German. It was made in Berlin of hard-paste porcelain painted in enamels, between 1750 and 1755 by Wegely's porcelain factory. It bears Wegely’s mark—a “W” in under-glaze blue at the back of the pedestal.

Object of the Day, Caption Contest: Forget Me Not

 Click on image to forget.  Or not.

Hmmm...where to begin? This isn't a trade card per se. It's not a calling card or even a visiting card. It's simply a pretty little chromolithograph printed on card stock. Now, I do believe that this could have been used as a trade card. It looks like the sort which were available for over-printing or reverse printing through catalogs. But, this just wasn't a run-of-the-mill stock card. This one is beautifully embossed. This would have made printing on the reverse rather awkward, but that never stopped them.

This was the preferred Victorian image-- Cupid or some random putto (or perhaps just a winged baby, who can tell?) surrounded by a variety of symbolic flowers (none of which, oddly enough, is a forget-me-not), sitting on a quasi-funereal plinth, wistfully carving some sweet message into a tabula rassa with one of his arrows. On the plinth below him is inscribed "Forget me Not."

Regardless if this unused card was made as a blank trade card or as a never-used affectionate greeting, it is gorgeously printed. These bright, rich colors are, to me, the epitome of Victorian printing. Furthermore, the embossing is exceptional. A chromolithograph in relief of this quality doesn't seem to be the work of late Nineteenth-Century American printers. I'd say this was European.

So, let's have a caption contest. We've not done one yet this week. I'm ashamed, why don't you tell me what the little tyke is scrawling on the tablet...

Answers in the comments section, please.

Object of the Day, Caption Contest: A Trade Card for Fancy and Toilet Articles

Click Image to Enlarge.

Nothing says “Fancy and Toilet Articles” like a staggering, drunk putto. The half-consumed, giant glass of wine aside, doesn’t he just look “lit”? What’s he doing? He’s gotten himself all tangled up in his bow and is about to topple over. Thankfully his little quiver has slipped forward to cover his cupid…stuff. I think he’s about to launch into the chorus of “YMCA.”

So, what’s the soused little fella trying to sell us anyway? This card came as part of a lot of ephemera which I recently bought (get ready, by the way, because there are about 200 additional trade cards waiting for your eager eyes). Many of them advertise for toiletry items, but this is the only one with a dipsomaniacal cherub. He wants you to know that one S. DAVIS offers you a variety of:



FANCY + AND + TOILET 

Articles, Confectionary, Cigars,
     Also a good assortment of
Choice Singing Birds, Bird
Cage’s (sic) Seeds, &c. Sold at Low-
est Prices. 


Putting aside for a moment that the ad copy was clearly written by a chimp, I must say that the assortment of goods offered up by Mr. Davis is quite impressive. We’ve got soap, candy, cigars, sundries, and BIRDS! Well. One stop shopping at its finest. I like all of those things—well, except cigars, which I think always smell like burning diapers. I think I’d have enjoyed a visit there.

Too bad it’s not 1880 and I’m not wherever this store was located. Oh well.

You know, I wasn’t planning on having a caption contest today. But, this one’s too good not to. Besides, we all seem to enjoy a drunk baby. So…

You’re aware of the drill. Put your answers in the comments.

Mastery of Design: The Hildburgh Cupids Locket, 1880

Locket
Europe, 1880
Pearls, Gold and enamel plaque
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In the Nineteenth Century, cupids, flowers, hands, anchors, knots, musical instruments and nesting birds were all symbols of love.  So, it’s only natural that these symbols would be popular themes for the jewelry which was so frequently given as a token of affection.

This locket was made in Western Europe around 1880.  It’s a work of gold and pearls set with an enamel plaque showing happy putti enjoying what appears to be a nice picnic.  I don’t know, really, but that’s what I like to think because that sounds pleasant to me.  A pleasing turquoise enamel border surrounds the scene.  

Figure of the Day: The Duesbury Cupid, 1780

Derby Porcelain Figure of Cupid
William Duesbury & Co., 1780
The Victoria & Albert Museum

This figure in soft-paste porcelain is painted with enamels and gilded.  Depicting Cupid with a dog, the box shows the cherubic love monger with a gilt hunting horn slung over his right shoulder and a spotted scarf thrown about him.  He reclines against a tree on a flower-covered mound, caressing the black and white terrier which is affectionately licking his chin.

The piece comes from the Derby, England porcelain concern of  William Duesbury & Co. and dates to about 1780.

Sculpture of the Day: Cupid, the Organ Grinder, 1750-55

The Victoria and Albert Museum

Here, we have a figure of Cupid as an organ-grinder. He is sitting on a tree-trunk, and his green trousers are slipping down in the back. A fan of the nudity, is Cupid.

What’s particularly peculiar is that he’s using a cat as an organ. I don’t know why. Cranking a cat by the tail will produce a noise. But, not one you'd want to hear.

But, this is certainly very Rococo. And, it’s also quite German. It was made in Berlin of hard-paste porcelain painted in enamels, between 1750 and 1755 by Wegely's porcelain factory. It bears Wegely’s mark—a “W” in under-glaze blue at the back of the pedestal