33.00 USD
Great German card from the early 1910s. This is one of eight risque bathing image cards we recently acquired for the shop. The soft blending of the photographer's model, props and painted background, results in a romantic, almost painting-like image.
The printer/publisher, NPG (Neue Photographische Gesellschaft, or the "New Photographic Society") was a Berlin company founded in 1894 by Arthur Schwarz. It soon became one of the largest (if not THE largest) producers of silver bromide photo image postcards in the world.
In Germany, Herr Schwarz improved upon mass photo printing technology he'd helped to develop while in the United States. These improvments allowed NPG to print greater numbers of cards more quickly (and profitably) than anyone had before. NPG's image quality was also top notch.
In his younger days, Arthur Schwarz had traveled extensively through Europe and America by train, selling photo studio backdrops (trompes l'oeil) his brother, an artist, had painted. The connections he established in those days probably stood him in good stead in later years, when NPG established subsidiaries in London, Paris, Rome and New York.
In the stamp box on the card's obverse, you will see the triangle mark of NBC, the Neue Bromsilber Convention. NBC was an organization headed by Heinrich Ross of Rotophot (later Ross Verlag, the hugely prolific film star postcard publisher). NBC was a cartel, of sorts, the purpose of which was to regulate costs of printing and retail pricing of photo print postcards and probably, as with most cartels, to keep the control of what was then a huge industry, in the hands of the big guys. The NBC stamp is mostly of value to us because, since the organization was established in 1909, it lets us accurately date a card bearing the NBC logo at 1909 or later. Given the relative collapse of the postcard industry in Germany following the beginning of WWI (1914) and taking into account other details in the image that help us guess at the card's age, it's likely our card was printed sometime between 1909 and 1914.
A lovely card in very nice unposted condition! 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.
And please come visit our blog at:
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!