MISCELLANY - Numbered
(incl. BIRDS)
Size: 3" x 5" or 5" x 3"
Date: Undated
Lithographer: Unidentified
This is a series of 50 cards,
numbered from 51 through 100 on the back of each card in the lower left
corner.
The
front of each card in this group is a multi-colored illustration, in
either a vertical (mostly) or horizontal format, depicting one of a
wide assortment of subjects. The first 19 cards (numbers 51 through 69)
feature birds. On the remaining cards (numbers 70 through 100), similar
subjects are generally found on two or more consecutively numbered
cards. These include portraits of children holding flowers, women doing
chores, children playing in snow, street urchins, girls with pets and
toys, stagecoaches, sailors, etc.
The back of each card consists of
one of two styles, printed in black. Some show a detailed engraving of
the Arbuckle factory buildings and docks, in a horizontal format, while
others contain only the standard "Four
Points" sales pitch, in a vertical format, explaining the
virtues of Arbuckles' Ariosa Coffee. (See examples.)
As far as I know, any given card number may be found with one or the
other of these styles, but not both.
This group of cards appears to be
a hodgepodge of stock illustrations which Arbuckles' adapted for their
own use. While a few of them include what appears to be an artist's
name or a simple humorous title, none of them bear copyright dates or
the name of the lithographer. Several of these illustrations may also
be found on trade cards for other products or companies, with the birds
often being found as one component of a more elaborate design. Many of
them were also used on greeting cards produced by Raphael Tuck &
Sons. At least some of the designs likely originated with Tuck, but I don't know if all of them did, or if
they simply had a common source.
I believe that all of the bird
illustrations were originally drawn by a French artist named
Hector Giacomelli. It appears that at least some of them
were published by Raphael Tuck in an 1885 folio
entitled "Le
monde des OISEAUX (INDIGENES ET EXOTIQUES)".
I've seen images
of a few
pages taken from that folio which include several drawings which match
illustrations on the Arbuckle cards. A similar group of four folios, "Studies of Bird Groupings", appears to have been published by Raphael Tuck in about 1888 or 1889. (See TuckDB Catalogues
for more information.) Again, I've seen several pages from those folios
which include additional illustrations matching some of the Arbuckle
cards. Unfortunately, I don't as yet have any of those folio images
available to include here. I have, however, been able to include the image of a later 1890 Giacomelli painting entitled "ETUDES D'OISEAUX (Studies of Birds)" on 7 of the individual pages for birds which are depicted in that painting (#54, #59, #62, #64, #67, #68, and #69). Three of the bird drawings (#51, #58, and #63) also appear in a painting by
Fidelia Bridges (date unknown). This painting is nearly identical to one of the groupings found in the third of the Giacomelli 1888 folios.
Disclaimer:
Although Arbuckles' didn't name the birds shown on these cards, with
some assistance I've been able to identify most of them, at least in
general terms. In some cases, where specific names are available on
other companies' cards, or in the Tuck folio descriptions, I've used
those. However, naming conventions on some species seem to have changed
over the course of more than a century, so the names shown may or may not reflect current usage.
CLICK ON ANY THUMBNAIL TO VIEW
FULL SIZE CARD
#51
 |
#52
 |
#53
 |
#54
 |
#55
 |
#56
 |
#57
 |
#58
 |
#59
 |
#60
 |
#61
 |
#62
 |
#63
 |
#64
 |
#65
 |
#66
 |
#67
 |
#68
 |
#69
 |
#70
|
#71
 |
#72
 |
#73
 |
#74
 |
#75
 |
#76
 |
#77
 |
#78
 |
#79
 |
#80
 |
#81
 |
#82
 |
#83
 |
#84
 |
#85
 |
#86
 |
#87
 |
#88
 |
#89
 |
#90
 |
#91
 |
#92
 |
#93
 |
#94
 |
#95
 |
#96
 |
#97
 |
#98
 |
#99
 |
#100
 |
|