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, November 19, 2015

From Riches to Rags

 
This diminutive and demure damsel seems to have fallen on hard times.  Although she still flaunts her fur stole, her form-fitting silk dress is now faded and in tatters.  The remains serve to how her maker, Galluba and Hoffman, carefully tailored these detailed dresses on its bisque fashion ladies.  The thin silk is lined in mesh and three tiny bead "buttons" decorate the hem of her dress just above her right foot.  Underneath the remains of her once-sumptuous Edwardian outfit, she probably wears  molded undergarments like those seen on her big sister, who appeared earlier on this blog.  Her wig is an old replacement, and originally she wore had a sleek mohair chignon, most likely accessorized with a fashionable and fetching hat. 
 

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