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.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Jack Frost Nipping at Her. . .Nose?

Although it is mid-October, here in central Texas it is still in the mid-90s.  Hoping to invoke cooler weather, here is a winsome miss sledding down a snow-covered slope on a wintry day.


Although unmarked, she has the typical elongated amber eyes with grey shading attributed to the German company of Fasold and Stauch.  Of excellent china and beautifully decorated, this frosty flapper is 7.5 inches long.


However, the truth must be told, she is not a powder dish, although she makes a delightful one.  I added the legs and marabou pseudo-powder puff.  In fact, I think she was originally intended as a pipe rest.  The hollow cone of the skirt is too shallow to hold powder, and it would tend to spill out, but it would securely cradle a man's pipe.  Leda and her swan swain, who appeared earlier on this blog,  is another pipe rest that often is mistaken for a powder dish.


The image appears to have been inspired by this 1928 French humor magazine cover, created by  illustrator Georges Léonnec, who specialized in boudoir art and risqué cartoons.


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