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.

Thursday, December 21, 2023

Gorgeous Goebel

This large and lovely bathing beauty is an unusual example from the German firm of William Goebel. Her excellent china was made with precolored pink slip and her orange-red tank suit is cold-painted. 


Her exquisite face is framed by her glossy black bobbed hair and her slender hands gesture gracefully.


Underneath she is incised with Goebel's crowned intertwined "G" and "W," as well as "F.N. 757." This use of capital letters is also typical of Goebel. This big beautiful bathing belle is 6.5 inches long and 3 inches high.





 

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Friday, December 8, 2023

William Goebel's Wonderful Water-Folk

I have an article on the online Museum of Aquarium and Pet History discussing the lovely loreleis and whimsical water creatures created by the German firm of William Goebel.



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