If this is Thursday it must postcards, 648

 

 

 

 

 

 

Titled:  Benvenuto Cellini, The Rospigliosi Cup (Altman Collection) Italian XVI Century, 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 31

 

This unused postcard does not have a divided back nor an outline for a stamp on the reverse.  It is credited as “Collotype by Max Jaffé, Vienna, Germany.”  Max Jaffé (1845-1939) was a photographer working and living in Vienna, Austria.  Germany took over Austria in March of 1938, hence the place identification as Germany rather than Austria.  Since Jaffé died in December of 1939 the date for this photo card can be narrowed to between March 1938 and December 1939. 

 

Another interesting thing concerns the Cup itself.  It is not what the title on the card says it is.  It was not made by Cellini in the 1500s. The cup is an original work, but in the style of Cellini; therefore, considered a forgery, made by Reinhold Vasters (1827-1909).  Vasters was a German goldsmith, who in order to support his family, made reproductions in historical styles.  This might never have been uncovered if Vasters' original sketches had not been found.  After the drawings were found, the cup was taken apart and discovered to have been made in ways that were only available in Vasters' own time.  Today the Cup is dated “between 1840 and 1850 or somewhat earlier.”  The Cup remains at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City and is on view at:  The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 556.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rospigliosi_family

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rospigliosi_Cup

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinhold_Vasters

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benvenuto_Cellini

https://de-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog/wiki/Max_Jaff%C3%A9_(Fotograf)?_x_tr_sl=de&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 647

 

 

 

 

 

Devils Oven, Alexandria Bay, N.Y.  – Thousand Islands, ca 1949

 

The picture featured on this unused, divided back, reproduced black & white print that was color-tinted for a postcard, is of a place called Devils Oven located in Alexandria Bay, New York.  Santway Photo-Craft Company, Inc. of Watertown, N.Y. published and distributed the card.  There is no blurb on the reverse but the identifying code:  R-73689 appears at the upper left center on the reverse.  The photographer is not credited.

 

I’m not sure that this is his picture, but an almost exact, black & white copy of this photograph is listed as a public domain image and is credited to a well-known photographer, William Henry Jackson, 1843-1942.  He worked for the United States Geological Survey expeditions in the 1870s.  Most of his pictures are of the American West.

 

Alexandria Bay is located in the Thousand Islands area of New York near the border crossing of Canada and the United States.  There are several places named Devils Oven.  Although it cannot be seen in the photo there must be a water-level cave on this small island that would get flooded during tides.  The name seems to refer to caves on islands where very long ago, suspected criminals might be left to drown for their crimes.  Some people believed that such caves were portals to the underworld, hence the name Devils Oven. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria_Bay,_New_York

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Henry_Jackson

https://garystockbridge617.getarchive.net/media/devils-oven-thousand-islands-8394e7

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 646

 

 

 

 

 

Litchfield Law School, Litchfield, Connecticut

 

Dexter Press, Inc., West Nyack, New York, printed this unused, divided back postcard, published by Morgan’s Photo Shop in Bantam, Connecticut.  It has the identifying code:  23706-C at the left bottom edge on the reverse.  It also has a blurb at the upper left corner on the reverse:  “America’s First Law School, 1774-1883, Litchfield, Connecticut.  Founded by Judge Tapping Reeve, it prepared more than 1000 students for the bar who eventually distinguished themselves in politics, diplomacy and education.”

 

The lawyer, judge, and law educator, Tapping Reeve was born in 1744 and died in 1823.  He founded the first independent law school in America not affiliated with any college or university.  The William & Mary Law School was the first law school connected with a university.  In 1965 the law school and Reeve’s house were declared National Historic Landmarks.  Tapping Reeve House and the Litchfield History Museum are now owned and operated by the Litchfield Historical Society.  Reeve served as a judge in Connecticut’s Superior Court beginning in 1798 and was later appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Connecticut in 1814. 

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tapping_Reeve

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Litchfield_Law_School

https://londonpostcardsca.wordpress.com/2017/12/22/international-publishers-dexter-press-pearl-river%E2%80%8B-n-y/

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 645

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Valentine, ca 1909-1912

 

 

Valentine’s Day is next Wednesday and so I thought I would share these two postcards with vintage reproductions from the early 1900s.  I got these cards from Laughing Elephant, a small local shop that specializes in reproducing vintage cards, books, and illustrations.  No artist is credited on either card.  The card above is not dated but is similar to the second card, which is dated 1911. 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Valentine, 1911

 

There was more than one Saint Valentine making it hard to say which one is the one for which Valentine’s Day is named.  There are also several legends about a Saint Valentine and Valentine’s Day.  One is called “The Golden Legend” and concerns a story about Valentine just before he was executed in the year 280 AD by the emperor Claudius of Rome for refusing to sacrifice to idols and converting many to Christianity.  In the 18^th century Henry Ansgar Kelly added a bit more that has since been incorporated into the story.  A very short abbreviated version is that while Valentine was awaiting his fate at the hand of the emperor, his jailer, Asterius, came to him and challenged or asked Valentine to restore the sight of his blind daughter.  Valentine prayed for the girl and she received her sight.  As a result of this miracle the jailer’s entire family converted to Christianity.  On the eve of his execution, Valentine wrote a letter to the girl and signed it “Your Valentine.”  The expression “From Your Valentine” was later adopted on modern Valentine letters and cards. 

 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://www.christianiconography.info/goldenLegend/valentine.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day

  https://laughingelephant.com/

 

 

If this is Thursday it must be postcards, 644

 

 

 

 

 

The Marble Memorial Bridge, Proctor, Vermont

 

No photographer or identifying code is found on this unused Curteich 3-D Natural Color Reproduction postcard.  Featured on the card is the Marble Memorial or Fletcher D. Proctor Memorial Bridge in Proctor, Vermont. 

 

This bridge was one of the first in Vermont constructed of concrete instead of wood like the earlier covered bridges.  At the time it was thought that concrete would require less maintenance and last longer than a wooden bridge.  It is one of the few concrete bridges in Vermont from the early 1900s to survive.  The bridge has three concrete arch spans, each 42 feet or 13 meters long.  The total length is 170 ft or 52 m. 

 

I lost my marbles when I saw this card.  The blurb on the back says:  “The Marble Memorial Bridge spans the Otter Creek at Proctor, Vermont.  Home of the famous Marble Exhibit which is open daily during the summer from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Sundays and holidays included.  Admission free.”  The first thing that popped into my mind, perhaps because I played with marbles as a kid, was that this was that type of marble museum, round glass balls of all colors and mixed sizes.  But no, this well-preserved bridge built in 1915 and widened in 1935-36 with funds from the Works Progress Administration is decoratively faced with locally quarried gray marble (stone) not with small colored balls. 

 

It is dedicated to Fletcher D. Proctor, of the family-owned Vermont Marble Company and a former Governor of Vermont.  In 1991 the bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a major marble landmark in the community.  The community livelihood depended on the quarry and stone for many years.  Many of the sidewalks in the town of Proctor are made of marble.  Most of the buildings of the Vermont Marble Company still stand with many constructed of Vermont marble.

 

The Vermont Marble Museum or Vermont Marble Exhibit offers tours focusing on the Vermont Marble Company’s history, the geology of marble and other stones, the uses of marble in art, architecture and industry.  There is a short video about the history of the company, founded in 1880 by Redfield Proctor.  Photographs depicting workers in various activities, quarrying, carving, and shipping are displayed throughout the museum.  Geologic exhibits include a preserved triceratops skeleton, an artificial cave, and large slabs of decorative stone.  The quarry, located about a quarter mile away, is no longer in use but has recently been added to the marble exhibit.  Examples show large chunks of quarried, unfinished marble.  The Preservation Trust of Vermont acquired the Vermont Marble Company in 2014.

 

For additional information, see:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marble_Bridge_(Proctor,_Vermont)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Marble_Museum