The Home Beautiful: A Wedgwood "Punch" Punch-Bowl, 1878

The British Museum

Click image to enlarge.

Look!  Look at this!

I've seen other Majolica Punch punch-bowls, but I've never seen this one before.

I love it.

I want one.

You see, this Punch punch-bowl of lead-glazed earthenware is supported by four feet which are modeled to look like Dog Toby!  Ha!  Meanwhile, the bowl itself is ornamented with four applied Punchinello heads, each decorated with colored glazes.

The interior of the bowl is painted lilac and the exterior is painted a deep blue with a rim of azure and graduated cream disks.

It was made by the Wedgwood Factory in 1878.

The Art of Play: The Laughable Game of What D'ye Buy by Professor Punch

Professor Punch's Laughable Game of "What D'Ye Buy?"
1890
The Victoria & Albert Museum

“The Laughable Game of What D'ye Buy by Professor Punch” was a boxed card game with a picture of Mr. Punch and Dog Toby on the lid. The game is comprised of ten cards which depict people of various professions, and 67 cards which have objects written on them that would be sold by the people depicted on the other cards.

The game is described as being played by giving each player a profession and the cards that are specific to that Profession. One player is elected as the “conductor.”  This player reads out a story, as found in the rule book.  At various points within this story there is a blank space in the text and the conductor looks to one of the vendors who must read out one of the items they sell to fill the gap in the story.

In this example from 1890, five of the printed object cards, and two of the vendor cards are missing.  These have been replaced with hand-written cards. The original rule book is missing but there is a hand-written transcript of it in the box.  Obviously the game was beloved and played to the point that it fell apart.  This version may have been made by the Edwin Wallis Co.

Print of the Day: Woodcuts of Mr. Punch and Friends, 19th C.

Wood-cut Print
Nineteenth Century
Unknown Artist
George Speaight Archive at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

What better way to celebrate three years of this site than with Mr. Punch and his family? 

Pictured above are two early Nineteenth-Century illustrations. One depicts Mr. Punch being bitten on the nose by the Dog Toby. The other shows a scene with our Mr. Punch, Dog Toby, Judy and the Baby—apparently, and unusually, in good spirits.

These prints were produced via woodcut, printed with black ink on paper. The work of an unknown artist, the first represents one of the most famous scenes from the Punch & Judy tradition—the introduction of Mr. Punch to his neighbor, Mr. Scaramouche’s dog.  At first, Dog Toby and Punch do not get along, but Mr. Punch is soon charmed by the terrier and takes him as his own pet.

Antique Image of the Day: Sheet music cover for "Quadrille,"

Sheet Music Cover
circa 1880
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here, we see a sheet music cover for “Quadrille”  by H.S. Roberts.  The chromolithograph depicts Mr. Punch, Judy and Dog Toby.  It was printed in London in the 1880s. 

This page has been preserved by being glued to a card backing.

Object of the Day: "Punch and Toby," a Children's Book

I received this beautiful book from my parents for Christmas. Since English books before 1970 often didn’t list a copyright date, it’s difficult to say when the book was published, but it’s the work of London’s Juvenile Productions, Ltd., and likely was written and illustrated in the 1940s. Neither the author nor illustrator is named.

The illustrations are truly stunning. I wish I could have reproduced all of them for you, but I didn’t want to risk damaging the book by opening it wide enough to scan all of the pages.

Entitled, “Punch and Toby,” the story explains that Mr. Punch lives in a steam-lined caravan and travels to seaside towns to entertain children. Along the way, he meets a stray dog and decides to call him, “Toby.” After being given a bath (which Punch calls the worst part) and dinner (which Punch calls the best part), Dog Toby is Punch’s friend for life and they travel about together, riding on roundabouts, visiting the marketplaces, and putting on their show.

I’m especially tickled that Punch greets Toby initially with, “Hullo, Chum”—just like our Mr. Punch/the Duke of Fallbridge from “Mr. Punch of Belgrave Square.”

The Art of Play: The Laughable Game of What D'ye Buy by Professor Punch

Professor Punch's Laughable Game of "What D'Ye Buy?"
1890
The Victoria & Albert Museum

“The Laughable Game of What D'ye Buy by Professor Punch” was a boxed card game with a picture of Mr. Punch and Dog Toby on the lid. The game is comprised of ten cards which depict people of various professions, and 67 cards which have objects written on them that would be sold by the people depicted on the other cards.

The game is described as being played by giving each player a profession and the cards that are specific to that Profession. One player is elected as the “conductor.”  This player reads out a story, as found in the rule book.  At various points within this story there is a blank space in the text and the conductor looks to one of the vendors who must read out one of the items they sell to fill the gap in the story.

In this example from 1890, five of the printed object cards, and two of the vendor cards are missing.  These have been replaced with hand-written cards. The original rule book is missing but there is a hand-written transcript of it in the box.  Obviously the game was beloved and played to the point that it fell apart.  This version may have been made by the Edwin Wallis Co.

Object of the Day: A Dog Toby Vesta Case

Reaching the age of thirty-nine has a good many advantages. I can, frankly, see why Jack Benny remained thirty-nine for the remainder of his life. Perhaps I will, too. It should be fairly easy as long as the makers of facial moisturizer and auburn hair dye continue to stay in business.

So, since the world didn’t come to an end today, I thought I’d share with you one of the gifts that I received from my mother and father for my recent birthday. He’s a Vesta Case, and he’s very cute. 

Vesta Cases, also known as Vesta Boxes and match Safes were made , primarily, from the 1830s to the 1920s to hold “vestas,” short matches made by a company who borrowed their name from the Roman goddess Vesta, the deity of fire. These cases kept the matches dry and contained. Since matches were a very integral part of daily life during a period where fire was the primary source of light and heat, keeping them dry and handy was pretty important.

This little sterling silver Vesta takes the form of a sweet-faced terrier who is, of course, Mr. Punch’s Dog Toby. Sorry for the slightly blurry pictures, but it’s rather difficult to take pictures of small, shiny objects. Believe me, I’m surrounded by small, shiny objects and have tried to photograph all of them at some point. Nevertheless, you can see how handsomely made he is. And, look! He’s got lovely, sparkly green eyes! I find these especially pleasing since my Bertie’s eyes flash green in the light.

Having been made in the last quarter of the Nineteenth Century, he was built to last and shows no evidence of his age. I find this to be hopeful. I hope I stay as well preserved by the time I get to my next thirty-ninth birthday.

The Art of Play: The Laughable Game of What D'ye Buy by Professor Punch

Professor Punch's Laughable Game of "What D'Ye Buy?"
1890
The Victoria & Albert Museum

“The Laughable Game of What D'ye Buy by Professor Punch” was a boxed card game with a picture of Mr. Punch and Dog Toby on the lid. The game is comprised of ten cards which depict people of various professions, and 67 cards which have objects written on them that would be sold by the people depicted on the other cards.

The game is described as being played by giving each player a profession and the cards that are specific to that Profession. One player is elected as the “conductor.”  This player reads out a story, as found in the rule book.  At various points within this story there is a blank space in the text and the conductor looks to one of the vendors who must read out one of the items they sell to fill the gap in the story.

In this example from 1890, five of the printed object cards, and two of the vendor cards are missing.  These have been replaced with hand-written cards. The original rule book is missing but there is a hand-written transcript of it in the box.  Obviously the game was beloved and played to the point that it fell apart.  This version may have been made by the Edwin Wallis Co.

Antique Image of the Day: Sheet music cover for "Quadrille,"

Sheet Music Cover
circa 1880
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here, we see another sheet music cover for “Quadrille”  by H.S. Roberts.  The chromolithograph depicts Mr. Punch, Judy and Dog Toby.  It was printed in London in the 1880s. 

This page has been preserved by being glued to a card backing.

Print of the Day: Woodcuts of Mr. Punch and Friends, 19th C.

Wood-cut Print
Nineteenth Century
Unknown Artist
George Speaight Archive at
The Victoria & Albert Museum

Here, we see two early Nineteenth-Century illustrations. One depicts Mr. Punch being bitten on the nose by the Dog Toby. The other shows a scene with our Mr. Punch, Dog Toby, Judy and the Baby—apparently, and unusually, in good spirits.

These prints were produced via woodcut, printed with black ink on paper. The work of an unknown artist, the first represents one of the most famous scenes from the Punch & Judy tradition—the introduction of Mr. Punch to his neighbor, Mr. Scaramouche’s dog.  At first, Dog Toby and Punch do not get along, but Mr. Punch is soon charmed by the terrier and takes him as his own pet.