Figures and Landscapes Set
Figures and Landscapes set by George Baxter 1) A reconstructed sheet, note the next image as the order is not quite correct 2) a Full uncut sheet but in not such as good condition 3) As it is signed bottom right 4 & 5) As they were intended to be used as a set of 10 (one missing) small boxes containing needles with Baxter's Fruit No 2 after Lance on the outside lid 6-8) Three of the prints used on a roll-type needle case 9) Quite often found in scrapbopoks cut to the oval, would you recognise them?
Figures and Landscapes Set
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Figures and Landscapes set by George Baxter 1) A reconstructed sheet, note the next image as the order is not quite correct 2) a Full uncut sheet but in not such as good condition 3) As it is signed bottom right 4 & 5) As they were intended to be used as a set of 10 (one missing) small boxes containing needles with Baxter's Fruit No 2 after Lance on the outside lid 6-8) Three of the prints used on a roll-type needle case 9) Quite often found in scrapbopoks cut to the oval, would you recognise them?
This is one of the later and rarer sets of needle box prints published by Baxter. They are listed as CL 145 - Figures and Landscapes Set.
Courtney Lewis in The Picture Printer states the titles are as follows but as they are unmarked so I don’t know where he got these from: Reading from left to right they are, top row: (1) Figures (Cupid and his victim); (2) Landscape (drinking fountain); (3) Lady with a bird; (4) Landscape; (5) Lady with a guitar. On bottom row: (6) Landscape; (7) Lady with a rose; (8) Mountain scene; (9) Two ladies; (10) Castle scene.
The 1936 Centenary Baxter Book states that there is a set of these prints at the British Museum which was given to them by F W Baxter and has the following titles written on it, possibly in George Baxter’s hand, never having seen them I can’t comment. The titles given are: (1) Venus and Cupid. (2) The Fountain. (3) Girl with Parrot. (4) Swiss View No. 1. (5) Girl Playing a Cithern. (6) Swiss View No. 2. (7) Girl with a Rose. (8) An Eastern Temple Doorway. (9) Two Women. (10) Castle with a Boat.
On the right-hand plate margin, engraved below the print is "Figures & Landscapes (10 designs). Baxter, Inventor & Patentee," in two lines.
Like all needle box sets they were intended to be cut into individual prints and placed on the lids of small boxes containing sewing needles. Sometimes, or perhaps always, they were sold in sets of 10 small boxes inside a large box with, preferably, another Baxter print on the outside lid.
Although there is no definite date of publication Courtney Lewis says ‘about 1859’. As it was so late in his active printing career, although it is listed as being available in Baxter’s 1864 re-publication issue, they couldn’t have been printed for long which perhaps is why these prints quite hard to find. Examples on needle boxes are always sought after but they do sometimes also appear, as with other needle box prints, as adornments in Victorian scrapbooks although I find these are quite often cut oval which, when looking at their design is not surprising. Please see images, would you recognise these as Baxter needle prints when found cut oval?
The set was printed from a plate and eight colour blocks. Unlike some of the other needle box sets it wasn’t issued by Baxter on any form of mount. The plate was included in Baxter’s 1860 Southgate and Barrett Catalogue (see link 1 below).
It is said, from a very reliable source, that there are two variations of the background colour of the four decorative corners enclosing each print. Pale yellowish-white and a strong orange-brown, although as yet I personally have not found any unfaded examples with this colour difference. You can see a difference in print no 5, the lady has a green jacket in the complete sheets but the copies in the needle box and also in the scrap album have a yellow jacket, interesting but not a fundamental difference which in my mind is only worthy of a separate listing when it involves an amendment to the actual steel plate. An actual alteration to a colour block is always worth noting but colour differences could easily just be a mistake by the printer on that day.
Please see images (click to enlarge) of an uncut sheet, which is under glass and another set having been reconstructed but in better condition. Which is the better set? You tell me, I ended up keeping both sets in my collection. Note the reconstructed sheet has not been done in quite the correct order. Also images of a near complete set actually on needle boxes. If anyone can help with the missing first print on a needle box please get in touch. Also an interesting needle packet roll featuring three prints from this set.