16.00 USD
Lovely hand-tinted silver bromide portrait of stage performer Mlle. Lorraine, published by G.G. Co. of Berlin, circa 1905. No history on Mlle. Lorraine as yet.
For those interested though, we can add another piece to the Gerlach puzzle. We recently came across a catalogue offered for sale online titled "Galerie Alter und Moderner Meister," a collection of color lithographs produced by Georg Gerlach & Co. A.G., Berlin.
This suggests that like many other early picture postcard publishers, G.G. began as a printer of art prints, was already set up (at least partially) for production, and when the picture postcard boom hit at the turn of the century, jumped right in.
Their location was at 42 Chausee Strasse, Berlin, in 1888, and in 1910, after they'd become very successful with postcard publishing, architect Max Richter designed new buildings for them. These were built and were still standing in 2010, and given special "historic" status.
All of this casts some doubt on the idea that those hundreds and hundreds of theatrical portraits were actually photographed by Georg Gerlach, who had to have been rather busy running a large company that not only published, but also printed out these series of postcards in addition to other lines of production.
Also, the fact that the company was well established in 1888 makes it unlikely that publisher Georg Gerlach was also the Austrian painter Georg Gerlach, which is a question that sometimes comes up. That painter was born in 1874, which would have made him running the printing and publishing firm in Berlin (in 1888) at age 14, so probably not.
Nor does there seem to be a connection between G.G. Co Berlin and Martin Gerlach Sr., or Martin Gerlach Jr. (as we previously were led to believe), Since both father and son were primarily working out of Vienna Austria, not Berlin. There are a number of G.G. Co postcards attributed to Martin Gerlach online through various sources, but we suspect this is simply due to them being signed "Gerlach," and we haven't through our research been able to establish any definite connection.
It's a shame that we can find almost no information on a publisher of some of the finest theatrical portraits of the period. If anyone out there has any further information on G.G. Co. A.G. Berlin, please share!
A lovely card with minor wear to edges and corners. Please examine our high res scans for detail.
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. Postage is for fully-insured, first class shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will not charge for postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for insurance or shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.
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redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!