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.

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 62

 
Ms.  #441 is a dainty damsel by Galluba and Hofmann.  This 6.5 inch tall bisque seated lady has retained her original dark blonde mohair wig with a dark red silk headband trimmed in black beads,  but the rest of her Edwardian elegance has been lost to time.  Now she is clad only in her molded white one-piece underwear, pale blue ribbed stockings, and bronze boots.  She is incised “412” under her seat. 

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Big Girls Don't Cry . . . .


 . . . . especially when they are this extraordinarily large and lovely.  This gorgeous Galluba and Hofmann bisque bathing beauty is 12 inches high.  She retains her original mohair wig and is incised "426" under her base.

 

A close up pf her face shows the extraordinary detail of her face, including tiny teeth painted between her full parted lips.  Her bisque has the soft, subtle sheen of just-washed skin.

Monday, November 14, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 61

 
Ms. #440 is a lissome leggy lass happy to hold your matches or toothpicks. This 4.75 inch tall figurine features the lady in sharp tinted bisque, while her basket is of precolored green bisque.   The piece is incised on back "5516" and painted with a "14" in black under the basket.

Sunday, November 13, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 60

If Ms #450 has a family resemblance to Ms. #381, it is because she is also by the German firm of Ernst Bohne Söhne, and she carries another version of the company's mark,  a blue stamp of a crowned  "N."  Of excellent bisque and decoration, she is 3.75 inches high.  Like her sister, the treatment of her tresses is unusual, as she has applied bisque curls in the front and molded combmarked locks in the back.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 59

 
Ms. #438 is a finned female atop a fantastic flower frog.  The 4.5 inch tall china frog features a lovely split-tail lorelei gracefully diving into the deep.   Other than a freehand red “41” underneath, the piece is unmarked, but is of fine German quality.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 58

 
Delicate and diminutive Ms. #437 is only  2 inches long and tall.   Of excellent bisque and modeling, there are even applied pink roses with tiny petals and green leaves in her dark blonde hair.   Stamped in black underneath "Bavaria," she is by William Goebel.


Thursday, November 10, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 57

 
Ms. #436 is another harem lady, this time in the form of a pincushion doll.  Of good china and well painted for her petite size, this small sultana is 2.75 inches tall.  She is unmarked, except for tiny freehand numbers "141" in black.

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 56

 
Ms. #434 is a large and lovely harem dancer by Dressel, Kister, and Company.  Of excellent china and beautifully detailed and decorated, this 12 inch tall sultry sultana stands on a 1.5 inch tall wooden base.  Although unmarked, she is pictured, posing on a similar wooden base, in a 1911 Dressel catalogue.  Next to her is a silver cigarette case with an enameled picture of a nude in an almost identical pose.  Dressel often copied popular paintings and postcards of the day, but so far I have been unable to locate the original image that inspired both the case and figurine.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 55

 
Ms. #432 is a sister of Ms. #431 and is also attributed to Fasold and Stauch.  Of good quality china and decoration, this 5 inch long bathing beauty is incised "180" underneath.  Her left hand is pierced to hold an object. 

Monday, November 7, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 54

 
Lovely in lavender, Ms. #431 may be by Fasold and Stauch.  Of fine china and decoration, she is 3 inches tall and long and is incised "183" on her lower back.   Her left hand is pierced so that she could hold an object, like a little paper parasol.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 53

 
Ms. #427 is the sister of the previous Ms. #426, and like her sibling, inspired by the Barrison Sisters.    Not only is she shamelessly exposing her legs, she is even smoking a cigarette or slender cigar!  The Five Barrison Sisters posed in similar costumes, all holding cigarettes, a suggestive and scandalous gesture for a woman in the 1890s.   This china coquette is 5 inches long and is unmarked.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 52

Ms. # 426 is yet another figurine inspired by the bawdy Barrison Sisters.   The costume worn by this 5 inch long china coquette is molded after those worn by the five sisters during their stage act.  There are no marks.

Friday, November 4, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 51

 
Ms. #425 reclines on a ponderous powder box shaped like a seashell.  This 7.5 inch long, 5.5 inch  box of bathing beauty lying on a realistic whelk shell is of good bisque and is well modeled and decorated.  The top if the shell lifts off to reveal the recess within.  The piece is incised "4343" on back lower edge of box.

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 50

Ms. #422 is a bathing beauty who really rocks.  This 3.5 inch comic character is a nodder, swaying from side to side on her sturdy legs.  Although unmarked, she is certainly from the firm of Schafer and Vater, who made a number of figurines featuring such obese bathing belles.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 49

 
Ms. #419 is a ravishing redhead who is as big as she is beautiful.   This 11 inch long china nude has striking large amber eyes completely outlined in black and surrounded by gray shadows.  Of the finest china and decoration, she is incised underneath “7156” and marked with a free hand “134” in flesh tone.  She is attributed to the German firm of Fasold and Stauch.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 48

Ms. #418 is a tambourine-playing harem dancer.  This  5.5 inch tall and 2.5 inch wide china vase, although marked underneath only with a freehand black "5," is from the German firm of Schafer and Vater.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 47

 
Ms. #417 sits shyly on the edge of her elaborate bath tub.  Of excellent sharp bisque, this belle and her bath are 4.5 inches high and 4 inches long.  There are no marks. 

I will not be posting tomorrow or Monday.  Please check back on Tuesday!

Friday, October 28, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 46

 
Ms. #416 is a working girl, as this 8 inch tall china bathing beauty is actually a bottle (she comes apart at the waist).  Incised underneath “Germany 5490,” she is nicely decorated, especially the art deco design on her cloak.

Thursday, October 27, 2011

Bathing Beauty of the Day; Day 45

Ms. #415 casts a sultry look over her feather fan.  This 4 inch tall china kneeling nude does have the most extraordinary large amber eyes, shadowed in gray.  Although unmarked, she is attributed to the German firm of Fasold and Stauch.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Bathing Beauties of the Day; Day 44

Misses #414 are another toothsome twosome.  This 3 inch tall china perfume bottle of two bathing beauties is based on a drawing by Anne Harriet Fish (1890-1964), a British artist and illustrator.  Her work appeared in Vanity Fair, Vogue, and Tatler and she created designs for Fulper Pottery and Hubley Manufacturing Company, who made cast iron toys and novelties, such as doorstops.  The bottle is stamped underneath “Bavaria” and is incised “X.F. 269,” “Dep,” and with the William Goebel crown mark.