26.00 USD
Rare, hand-colored boudoir image, one of two from a series of probably six or twelve cards, but these are scarce enough we'll probably never know. We'd guess this one was produced sometime around 1898.
Note that the actual image is small enough to leave room for a short message on the image side, the address side being (in those early days before 1904) reserved exclusively for the recipient's address. This was entirely to do with the cost of mailing a postcard. It was less than that of mailing a letter, so the tax-man wanted to be sure postcards weren't being used as letters! Ironically, when 1904 arrived and the French allowed the presence of that horizontal line on the back of a card that separates messages from addresses on modern postcards, the postcard industry boomed and postage stamp revenues rolled in as never before!
That's not to say the industry wasn't already formidable. In the year 1900, one postcard printer, Bergeret of Nancy, produced more than twenty-five million of them!
A very nice card, difficult to find, in near fine condition.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the 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 sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.