This attractive vintage French postcard features a hand-colorized portrait of a young woman — her hair softly waved, her features delicate, and her expression warm and gentle. She tilts her head slightly and raises one arm, resting her hand near her ear, holding a rose (colorized in vivid pink) against her cheek. The soft hand-tinting gives the card a dreamy, romantic feel: gentle blush on her cheeks, subtle color in her lips, and pastel tones in the background. The fashion and style — the wavy hairstyle, the jewelry, and the sitter’s graceful pose — evoke early 20th-century glamour. In the upper right of the image side appears the gilded greeting “Bonne Année” — a New Year’s wish, adding charm and purpose to the card. The card’s publisher imprint in the lower left reads SUBAR 155-PARIS. The reverse carries a handwritten message and address in French (see translation). “Best wishes and greetings — Marthe”. The card is marked “SUBAR 155-PARIS.” Unfortunately, I was unable to locate reliable reference material definitively describing a postcard house named “SUBAR.” That said, the card’s style — hand-colored portrait, gilded greeting, Paris imprint — is consistent with many small-scale French postcard producers from the pre-WWI and interwar periods, when dozens of modest workshop-publishers issued commemorative and greeting cards for domestic distribution. (SOLD)
This vintage real photo postcard portrait feature British silent film actress, Marjorie Villis (1891-1981). Miss Villis is quite pretty and has a wonderful smile. This photograph captures her in a risque pose and a risque costume. What an amazing elaborate and busy costume. When I first saw this image, I immediately became motivated to find information about this provocative actress. I met little success in learning about Marjorie Villis. Photographs of her appear to be uncommon, and I could not find the postcard above anywhere online. I did learn that she sat for seven postcard portraits that can be found in the UK’s National Portrait Gallery, All of the portraits were taken by celebrated photographer, Alexander Bassano. The IMDb credits Villis with 15 film roles between 1915 and 1922. Villis was most noted for her roles in “The Rugged Path (1918), “A Romany Lass (1918)”, and “Brenda of the Barge (1920). She had a relatively short career. I wonder why her career ended so abruptly? The first talkie feature film did not get released until 1927, so we know that, unlike many other silent film stars, Villis was not shut out of the film industry because of an unsuitable voice or foreign accent. This postcard was published by J. Beagles & Company (London) as part of a series (no.142 J). The wonderful portrait of Miss Villis was taken by S. Ward. This vintage postcard is in very good condition (see scans)
THE CABINET CARD GALLERY 