Item: 1896 illustration by "E.O.T." (?) on Bristol Board in the style of Charles Dana Gibson depicting 'moving day'. There are a couple lines of wording in faint pencil on the back, which perhaps was the caption verbage. I thought it could be by Earl Thatcher, a Harper's illustrator, but can't confirm this. In any event, it's a wonderful illustration art piece, likely depicting May 1st, which was 'Moving Day' in New York City from colonial times through World War II. Unframed. Attention International Buyers: The item may be too big to ship to your country... Please contact me for a shipping quote before bidding. If not too big, item ships via USPS Express Mail International, and with the price you pay declared on Customs forms. Your signature is required. Thanks for understanding.
Markings: Artist's initials and date lower right; faint writing on back in pencil. Note: the Bristol Board was from a British company, Reynolds.
Age: 1896.
Condition: Used condition. Discoloration from old matting window, foxing, etc. Some tape back edges from previous matting/framing.
Dimensions: Paper size: approx. 12 1/2 x 15 1/4 inches.
Origin: Discovered in New Jersey, USA.
Features: Here we have a beautiful example of Golden Age illustration art, reminiscent of Charles Dana Gibson's work, featuring a woman in that 'classic dress' which we all love to see in antique artwork.
Background: From the net: “The Golden Age of American Illustration,” by the publication American Artist (June, 2006) explains that “In the 1880s American illustration entered a period that is generally regarded as its Golden Age. This happened because of the convergence of a number of factors: New printing techniques were being developed, paper production was becoming cheaper, railways facilitated distribution throughout the continent, and the population was expanding and becoming wealthier as industrialization progressed. National magazines such as Harper’s Monthly, Collier’s, and Scribner’s took advantage of all these circumstances to build enormous circulations—and they needed artwork for their pages. Meanwhile, publishers of illustrated books, particularly children’s books, also found that the new techniques and new markets could make their enterprises highly profitable. Although magazines had been in business since before the Civil War, the illustrations they used had always been reproduced by hand-carving the artist’s work into woodblocks and printing it in black-and-white line. However, in the 1880s a halftone process became available that allowed for the direct reproduction of the artist’s work in all its nuances. By 1900 full-color reproduction techniques became refined enough to allow magazines to print at least the cover in color and book publishers to print a colored frontispiece. Because photography was still in its infancy and color photography unknown, there was a huge demand for illustrators. Artists were suddenly given the chance to make enormous sums of money if they could reach the top of the profession—a fact that attracted a number of immense talents. At this time there was very little possibility for a painter to make a career through art galleries and exhibitions. If wealthy Americans bought art at all, they bought European art. Moreover, there was no stigma attached to working as an illustrator, as there often is today within the fine-arts community. In fact, artists were delighted to see their work disseminated to such a broad public. The American Golden Age of Illustration lasted from the 1880s until shortly after World War I (although the active career of several later “Golden Age” illustrators went on for another few decades).” Some suggest the golden age lasted until the 1960s- with comic books, magazine story illustrations and covers, postcards, sci-fi books, posters, pulp novel art, and advertising. To continue with American Artists: “The Golden Age of Illustration came to an end in the 1930s when advances in photographic reproduction and the advent of color photography gradually pushed the illustrators aside… Once again new technologies and new commercial needs asserted themselves”. During this time period, many in the United States came to appreciate the illustrations that accompanied their magazines, newspapers, advertisements, books and calendars. In fact, numerous framed prints of these illustrations were sold during the 1920’s with many of them by R. A. Fox, Maxfield Parrish, Coles Philips, Goddard, Hintermeister, William Thompson, and Beatrice Tonneson to name a few. PLEASE SEE MY EBAY STORE FOR A NICE SELECTION OF ART, ANTIQUES & COLLECTIBLES.
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Most of the items I offer here on eBay are from estates in the Philadelphia / NYC area, and are fresh to the market. If you have any questions, need more info, or want to set up a Preview appointment, please feel welcome to message me and I'll respond in a timely manner. Thanks for your interest, ~Chris
Terms Of Sale: Winning bidder to pay for item(s) in full, in U.S. dollars within 7 days of sale date. If Local pick-up, no online payment methods due to lack of tracking & payment must clear my bank beforehand. All Items are sold “AS-IS”, and offered for final sale. Before bidding: Please ask all questions and Previews for in-person item inspections are welcome & encouraged! Attention International Buyers: Import duties, taxes and charges are not included here or paid to / by me and are the buyer’s responsibility. Arrival time & Customs issues are out of my control (although I'd gladly file an Inquiry with the USPS if delivery is really delayed), and I cannot misstate value on the forms.
