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.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Making an Ass of Himself


This comic bisque pin dish by Schafer and Vater features a very voluptuous bathing belle being held by a rather flustered beau.  The caption, " I Never Felt Such an Ass in All My Life," is a double entendre, as can be read as meaning either that the man is feeling foolish or his female friend's ample hindquarters.


And here is the postcard that inspired the pin dish.  The artist is Donald Fraser Gould McGill (1875 – 1962), an English graphic artist renown for his naughty postcards, which often featured double entendres and saucy sight gags.  Many of his postcards portrayed seaside scenes and were sold as souvenirs at British beach resorts.   

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