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.

Friday, October 27, 2023

Casting a Wide Net

This laughing lass has her net at ready, perhaps hoping to bag herself some handsome beach beau. She is actually made to perch on the edge of an aquarium, a variation on the fish bowl fancies with fishing poles. Although by the 1920s the form-fitting wool knit swimsuit was becoming popular, many women still wore bathing suits like this one, consisting of a long shift-like tunic top over shorts. 

 

Although unmarked, I attribute her to the German firm of Hertwig and Company. Not only are her sharp realistic modeling and lively expression similar to this company's bathing beauties and lithe lady figurines, there is a hole on the bottom that would have accommodated a metal loop to clip the piece to the rim of an aquarium. Hertwig used such clips for its fishing figures, but these metal clips are often missing, having fallen out or rusted away over the decades. This lass is 6 inches tall, quite large for this sort of aquarium ornament.


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