E. Ewen & Son: an exquisitely hand-coloured window bill

Colour printing did not immediately end hand colouring in advertising: both methods continued until print runs grew so large that hand colouring became impractical. In this example from the 1820s, all the colour has been added by hand.

E. Ewen & Son's hand-coloured window bill.
E. Ewen & Son’s hand-coloured window bill. JJColl: Window Bills and Advertisements folder 5 (1)
E. Ewen & Son's hand-coloured window bill (detail)
E. Ewen & Son’s hand-coloured window bill (detail)

Relief printed by [John Vandenburgh] Quick, with the letters of the word SOAP wood engraved, this 1820s hand-coloured window bill is one of my favourites in ‘The Art of Advertising’ exhibition. Destined to be displayed in E. Ewen & Son’s shop, it was a one-off, hence the elaborate hand colouring and superior printing.

With the exception of the letter S, which could represent the Ewen manufactory, the illustrations that make up the word SOAP bear little relation to the product. They are of a style often associated with alphabets. I have been unable to discover the significance of the Pink and Blue Saucer Manufactory, and would be delighted if historians of ceramics could shed any light on this.

I have also discovered nothing  in the subsequent work of John Vandenburgh Quick (fl. 1823-1853) approaching this calibre. It was an early work – perhaps a show piece, symbolising his aspirations before the reality of jobbing printing took over. Certainly, it is fitting for a shop patronised by royalty and nobility. We have several examples of his crime broadsides, songs, entertainment handbills and bellmen’s verses in the John Johnson Collection and 39 of his street ballads in the Bodleian’s collections. He produced a series of ‘candle-light amusements’ and is said to have printed peep-shows, dioramas, flap-books and pop-up books.  He did, however, print in interesting places including Hyde Park and 76 feet below high water-mark under the Thames in the Thames Tunnel.

Statue of Achilles inStatue of Achilles in Hyde Park, c. 1822 Hyde Park, c. 1822
Statue of Achilles in Hyde Park, c. 1822. ‘Printed on the spot’. JJColl: Printed on the Ice 2 (3)

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Thames Tunnel Paper, March 25, 1843
The Thames Tunnel Paper, March 25, 1843. JJColl: Printed on the Ice 2 (7)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Exquisite hand-colouring was usually reserved for high-quality prints or for costly items such as valentine cards. In advertising, early exponents of hand-colouring include lottery agents, who used a range of techniques to introduce colour into lottery bills. There are also hand-coloured inn tallies and trade cards, although these are rare. The two examples below are crude in comparison with the E. Ewen & Son’s window bill.  However, they exemplify the desire for colour that was to galavanise printers to experiment with printing in colour.

Lottery bill, hand-coloured
Lottery bill. JJColl: Lotteries vol. 13 (25)
Red Lion Inn. Hand-coloured inn tally.
Red Lion Inn. Hand-coloured inn tally. JJColl: Bill Headings 17 (69)

 

 

 

Sorting the Lennox-Boyd Collection

Trade card for Bourn, goldsmith Lennox Boyd Collection
Trade card for Bourn, goldsmith
Lennox Boyd Collection

The Lennox-Boyd Collection (of printed ephemera) was accepted in lieu of Inheritance Tax by H M Government from the estate of the Hon. Christopher Lennox-Boyd and allocated to the Bodleian Library in 2015.  Christopher Lennox-Boyd (1941-2012) was an antiquarian scholar and an avid collector, most notably of mezzotints,  but also of ephemera, fans, picture frames and much else. He owned Sanders (the antique print shop) in the High Street, Oxford.

The ephemera collection arrived in 61 boxes (some very large) and bags. CLB had begun to sort some sections but a great deal of the ephemera remained unsorted, often still in dealers’ bags. (although provenance of individual items is not documented).  It is, therefore, a delightful and privileged voyage of discovery – a rare opportunity to discover a private collection.  My trusty team of volunteers and I are currently undertaking an initial sort, and are turning up all sorts of gems.

The material is more varied than I had realised and our list of categories now numbers over 30.  The meat of the collection, however, is in the trade cards, bill headings and note headings. There is a substantial corpus of material relating to hotels.

Bill Heading for Lamplighter, 1773
Bill Heading for Lamplighter, 1773

The smaller, but choice, Ceremonial and Funeralia sections have already been sorted by our History graduate student, Leea.

Coronation ticket, 1761
Coronation ticket, 1761

Another volunteer is cataloguing a small collection of Bookplates.

An index will be produced in due course, and it is hoped also to catalogue the trade cards, which complement those already catalogued and digitised in the John Johnson Collection.  Meanwhile, the focus is on appropriate housing for the collection – in the system of Conservation-quality ring binders with melinex pages begun by Christopher Lennox-Boyd.  We were fortunate to raise money for this at Duke Humfrey’s Night 2015 (item 37).

We will post about the collection from time to time, but here are some items which have caught our attention as we sort:

Visiting card for Marwood, executioner. Lennox Boyd Collection
Visiting card for Marwood, executioner. Lennox Boyd Collection

First an Executioner’s trade or visiting card – the first I have seen. An unassuming item, it is attached to an album page (sadly all that we have) with images of crimals or suspected criminals, two of whom (Peace & Lefroy) are among the 176 people he executed. William Marwood merits his own Wikipedia article.  He developed the ‘long drop’ (more humane) method of hanging.

List of Bristol executions, c. 1829
List of Bristol executions, c. 1829

While on the subject of crime, this handbill listing  hangings in Bristol (42 in 89 years) forms a fascinating overview of the application of the death penalty.

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the humblest scraps of paper can prove fascinating, as is the case with this advertisement for the hire of umbrellas, to avoid the inconvenience of carrying them on dry days!

Letterpress advertisement for the hire of umbrellas
The London Umbrella Company advert (recto)
List of stations for the hire of umbrellas
The London Umbrella Company hire stations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One of the more unusual Lost notices I have seen is this one:

Lost notice, for Wooden leg and foot
Lost notice, for Wooden leg and foot

While most of the ephemera pre-dates chromolithography, volunteer Caroline was delighted to find this early 1900s novelty advertisement for Au Bon Marché.

Au Bon Marché ad: front
Au Bon Marché ad: front
Au Bon Marché: inside
Au Bon Marché: inside

 

 

 

 

 

 

Au Bon Marché ad: back
Au Bon Marché ad: back

Watch this space, as we uncover more treasures!  We will also post gems from the collection as we find them on our Instagram page.