Kuriosas

1940’s Funghi Book covers

Posted on May 16, 2013 by kuriosas

I came across this cheeky duo at the market I run recently and was so charmed by the bold, pop graphics and supreme colour scheme I had to manhandle a customer who’d already bought them and ask if I could grab a few pictures (albeit dreary iPhone ones that don’t do them justice)

They were both printed in 1945, one of my favourite eras for lively and exciting surface design, but due to the psychedelic subject matter they somehow wouldn’t look out of place amongst the tripped out fabrics of the late 60’s / early 70’s.

The colours on the cover above made me think of a palette that swelled in popularity across graphics, textiles and ceramics just a few years on in the 1950’s. This handsome mid century ceramics set by German company Schlossberg used an almost identical colour scheme.

Source

I would love an entire kaftan printed with these marvellous mushrooms, even if this would put me at risk of purchasing a bongo drum at a later date.

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1930’s Portugese Maths Book

Posted on February 26, 2013 by kuriosas

One of my favourite recent finds – fantastic magentas on this pretty charming 1930’s illustrated times tables pamphlet. Found in a junk shop in Porto, Portugal – (if you like this, also worth looking at my other post from there of Vintage Portugese Book Covers)

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Vintage French Illustration

Posted on February 22, 2013 by kuriosas

I found this illustrated paper folder at a rural antique shop in Normandy a while back – I think Le Cygne Noir was a grooming product and am guessing this is from the 1940’s perhaps

I loved the print quality up close, although the swan does start to look a bit sly at this proximity…

Bountiful hay bales, slumberous hamlets, handsome thatches, ancient antique shops and brocantes, Normandy bewitched me with it’s idyllic chocolate box charm.

Happily, there was also a reassuring selection of guesthouses adhering to aggressive floral policies

I was also a bit enchanted by this incredibly quaint fairytale style house overlooking the sea in St Valery En Caux, the lettering on the sign, flowers and overall style are all typically Art Nouveau so date it to the early 1900’s. I think I’d like to retire here to watch the ocean from that top window whilst surrounded by a supreme selection of cheeses.

All of these pictures were taken on film on my favourite £2.50 1990’s camera. I’ve noticed it has a curious trick of cloaking nearly every image with a nostalgic wistful haze that somehow tempts you to remember that moment in time as a gilded, glittering sea of euphoria (when in actual fact you had been suffering from severe heartburn after eating a misguided gigantic chocolate croissant followed by a three course lunch…).

I think I am actually totally at ease with this method of sugar coating existence though and believe some form of it is fairly compulsory – so grab one of these lo-fi wonders on eBay and live in your own 70’s Terence Malick film forever.

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1950’s winter wrapping paper

Posted on February 19, 2013 by kuriosas

Dazzling wrapping paper from the 1950’s with a fantastic palette of acid brights and superb graphics. It also has an enjoyably cheap and crunchy feel to it. Found at my vintage fair North London Vintage Market

I much prefer this technicolour version of winter. I’m thinking of moving here shortly to spend my days skating around neon trees with a mysterious man in black until Spring.

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Vintage John Donne book

Posted on January 23, 2013 by kuriosas

I came across this handsome edition of John Donne’s love poems recently in a Highgate charity shop. A choice example of mid-century book graphics, it was printed right on the half-century mark in 1950.

The points and diamond shapes made me think instantly of the iconic design of the Festival of Britain programme, which in 1951 was just a year later.

Recently celebrated by the Southbank Centre in a 60th anniversary event, the Festival of Britain was a landmark event of it’s time, encouraging recovery, optimism and propserity after the war by showcasing the successes of Britons in Science, Technology, Architecture, Design and across the arts.

I was a bit excited to find a sniff of a love story within this tome too. This was written inside the cover:

And inside was a postcard from that time of Florence. I like to imagine B & M having a magical time skipping around in glamorous 1950’s attire, reciting Donne poetry in the Plazza del Duomo and generally being in the throes of giddy romance. I’m going to keep this memento safe for them.

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Romanian Insect Orchestra

Posted on January 22, 2013 by kuriosas

Yes, that is a beetle playing a cello…

a snail playing a saxophone…..

……and a locust playing a xylophone

I found this insane little item on my trip to Cluj Napoca in Transylvania, Romania I talked about in an earlier post. Saw it nestling in an Antiques market in the town and knew I had to grab it as in my opinion there aren’t enough Eastern European musical insect ensembles around these days.

It probably dates from around the 1940’s or 50’s. Hurrah for surreal ceramics!

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Portugese Vintage Book Covers & Serralves Art Deco Villa

Posted on January 9, 2013 by kuriosas

I spent a week skipping around Porto in Portugal a while back and was cheered to find some playful book graphics lurking at flea markets and in musty back street shops. Some colourful 1960’s and 70’s psychedelic numbers here: