Two Great War silk postcards, 1917
(France?)
2707
Two postcards with rectos featuring silk embroidery on a silk mesh panel then matted with card paper. The upper example declares 'Death or triumph' under a parade of the Allies'...
Two postcards with rectos featuring silk embroidery on a silk mesh panel then matted with card paper. The upper example declares "Death or triumph" under a parade of the Allies' flags (Belgium, France, Great Britain, the Russian Empire, and Italy). The lower identifies itself as a "Souvenir from France" and is decorated with mistletoe and a "1917" composed likewise of Allied Forces flags, this time including the United States. Embroidered postcards of this ilk were handmade by local women and then sent to larger areas of commerce for finishing and distribution. They were, in the end, export products, purchased by soldiers to send back to home. Given the predominant use of English, "home" generally meant Great Britain or, later on and to a lesser extent, the United States, but examples survive in Cyrillic and other languages. These matted and framed. Trace motes of foxing, miniscule tear to lower left corner of upper example, else a near fine pair, sentimentally displayed. (Cards measure 3 by 5 in.; Frame measures 12 by 8 7/8 in.)


