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Charles Dickens - Frith Postcard

Posted: Fri Jul 12, 2013 9:12 am
by Bridget
Hello!

I'm not a collector of postcards but I can see the charm and addiction that might be in it, though I recently bought a lovely one and was curious to know more about it, like date and such.

Image

Image

I apologise for the poor quality photos, it looked much better before I uploaded it to the computer from my phone.

I've tried to do a little research but I can't find any postcards like this one, though I have discovered that there was an artist, William Powell Frith?

I hope I have posted this in the right place and look forward to hearing anything about it.

Re: Charles Dickens - Frith Postcard

Posted: Sat Jul 13, 2013 10:35 am
by About Postcards
Hello Bridget,

Your postcard is a monochrome reproduction of an oil painting held by the Victoria and Albert museum. The artist was indeed William Powell Frith (1819 - 1909) and the original painting dated from 1859. The image is notable for being disliked by Dickens. Confusingly there was also a postcard publisher named Frith, a different person.

You can find out a great deal more about the image and artist from the Victoria and Albert link below. When you get to the page you will find two tabs beneath and to the right of the image labelled "Summary" and More Information", click those for extensive details.

William Powell Frith

Cards such as yours were produced in considerable volume and consequently are of limited monetary value today. However there are many other Dickens related cards out there and it's a very popular theme amongst collectors. You'll find images of the man, centenary of birth postcards, images of his birthplace and of places associated with his works, and artist illustrated postcards depicting characters from his works (there are the most sought after). Perhaps your Charles Dickens card could be the first in your Dickens themed collection ?

I hope this helps

Re: Charles Dickens - Frith Postcard

Posted: Sat Aug 17, 2013 4:27 pm
by Bridget
Thank you for the great response, it helped a lot!

My apologies it took me so long to reply but since first posting on here, I've now become completely addicted to old postcards. Opps!

Re: Charles Dickens - Frith Postcard

Posted: Sun Aug 18, 2013 1:48 pm
by About Postcards
It's a pleasure, both to help and to get someone started with postcard collecting.

Good luck with the collection