Salesman’s samples of late Victorian prints and embossed die-cuts

The salesman’s samples of late Victorian prints and embossed die-cuts consist of 150 chromolithographic posters and embossed, die-cut prints. The prints originally were housed in two large leather sample cases made by Mendel & Co. in Cincinnati, Ohio. An American salesman likely used the cases for travel across the country in order to display and sell chromolithographs to retailers and the general public. The collection includes 64 portraits of women, 20 comic scenes and portraits, 38 prints of babies and children, 4 prints of nude women, 22 genre and landscape scenes, and 2 black-and-white prints. While the majority of the prints were produced in Germany, other prints were made in France and America. On the verso, the bulk of the prints have an identifying number, a letter class, and a stamp that reads "for the K. -T. Company."

The majority of the prints in the collection that depict women and children reflect the aesthetic of the Victorian Sentimental, characterized by a focus on tender emotions and domestic or pastoral imagery. Eight of the portraits of women depict Middle Eastern or Japanese influences in costume and setting. The backgrounds of two of these prints in particular (numbers 30148 and 34042) are reminiscent of the design of James McNeill Whistler’s Peacock Room (1876-1877). Some of the prints in the collection contain elaborate, die-cut frames with scrollwork and vegetation that appear in style to reference Art Nouveau.

The collection has many duplicate prints, in which a frame and/or subject has been reprinted. In these cases, color, size, and surface finish varies. Some of the die-cut chromolithographs have holes punched out or open areas designed for hanging. Many of the prints have decorative, open spaces that could be imprinted with advertising names or logos. Over half of the prints are embossed.

At least two of the prints (numbers 2706 and 2707) were based on paintings. One of the collection’s black-and-white lithographs pictures Jules Frédéric Ballavoine’s 1890 painting Les Indiscrets (listed as “Indiscreet Butterfly” on the print). While painted sources for the other portraits in the collection have not been located, some of these likely originated from Academic paintings of female subjects.