Postcard Image

Postcard Image
As the Victorian era passed into the Edwardian and Roaring Twenties, a market developed for bisque and china bawdy novelties and figurines of women in revealing outfits. Although now most of these figurines seem more coy and cute than ribald and risque, in their time they symbolized the casting off of the perceived restraints of the Victorian era.

These little lovelies included bathing beauties, who came clad in swimsuits of real lace or in stylish painted beach wear, as well as mermaids, harem ladies, and nudies, who were meant to wear nothing more than an engaging smile. Also produced were flippers, innocent appearing figurines who reveal a bawdy secret when flipped over, and squirters, figurines that were meant to squirt water out of an appropriate orifice.

Most were manufactured in Germany from the late 1800s through the 1930s, often showing remarkable artistry and imagination, with Japan entering the market during World War I.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Galluba and Hofmann, Always in Fashion

A friend and fellow collector alerted me to this 1983 Nina Ricci fashion advertisement.  


What caught her eye was not the courtier dress, but the three seated ladies. . . .

 


They are all original fashion ladies by Galluba and Hofmann.  The company's 1914 catalogue displays a similar group of grande dames, all dressed in real silks and lace in the epitome of Edwardian elegance and seated in identical chairs.  You can see two similar ladies from my collection, sadly sans gowns and furniture, here and here.

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