The Art Amateur Aesthetes from 1881

The Art Amateur Plate CXXII - Designs for Outline Embroidery - Aesthetes



Well, I have found the long lost Art Amateur image CXXII of the Aesthetes with the assistance from the staff at JSTOR.  Not really a true likeness of Oscar Wilde – not sure if he is mentioned in the October 1881 issue – but he is called out by name in the ads referring to that issue.  Oscar was growing in popularity – he had just signed on to do a lecture tour in America with the theater promoter Richard D'Oyly Carte to advertise the new Gilbert and Sullivan operetta, Patience or Bunthorne's Bride – so his name was used in the ads – a classic marketing ploy.  The actual outline designs are rather generic (in my opinion) and not obviously Oscar.

 

The ladies on the other hand were more recognizable to me in terms of design.  I had seen them before – both in outline designs and in Judy – specifically the lady holding the sunflower.  Here is the time line of publication, I however found the Peterson's image first (it was in my out-line designs file), then in Judy, and finally in The Art Amateur. 

 

The Art Amateur – Oct 1881

Judy, Or the London Serio-Comic Journal – February 1882

Peterson’s Magazine – Sept 1882 

 

There is a sketch similar to the boy in tights in the Oct 5, 1881 Judy – the same time frame as the Art Amateur issue with the CXXII image.  Both the Sunflower Dress lady and the Tights boy were drawn by A. Chasemore.  He illustrated fashion costumes for Judy – and the figures of the other ladies remind me of his style, however, I could not find those specific  ladies/poses in any of the Judy’s on-line during that time period. 

 

Aside: I did find a nice looking Oscar that would be perfect for out-line embroidery in the cover of The Short Stories of Oscar Wilde, The Easton Press, 2003.  As I am working on a CQ – I just may have to put an Oscar in mine.

Oscar Wilde Crazy Quilt Sold for $150 in 1883!

Oscar Wilde Crazy Quilt Sold for $150 in 1883

As I stated before, the Oscar on my CQ is printed on fabric and finely appliqued with tiny buttonhole stitches and outlined stitched for accents and shading.  It leads me to believe there was a printed fabric with him on it - maybe a handkerchief?  I started search for evidence of this and found a mention of an "Oscar calico“ plus the term “Oscar Wildes” in a listing of fabrics available for purchase.  There were even mentions of “Oscar Ribbons” in a couple of newspapers.  Maybe there was a printed calico too?  My Oscar was printed on fabric some place during this time period, as he is on my quilt.

Oscar Calico:  The Columbian. (Bloomsburg, Pa.), 17 March 1882. 
Ribbons: The Northern Pacific farmer. (Wadena, Minn.), 22 June 1882 and The Worthington Advance. (Worthington, Minn.), 22 June 1882. 
Oscar Wildes: The Florida Agriculturist. (DeLand, Fla.), 21 March 1883.

In the book “Treasures of use and beauty : an epitome of the choicest gems of wisdom, history, reference and recreation” by a corps of special authors.   Published by F.B. Dickerson & Co., 1883, pages 460-61 they tell of a "small spread having Oscar Wilde (as the center piece) in aesthetic costume, with a lily in one had and the orthodox sunflower in the other, sold at a recent fair for $150."

This was published in 1883 - just around the time frame I estimate my CQ was made.  So there may be more quilts with Oscars out there!  Also in 1883, Godey’s Volume 106 ran a two-part article on Mosaic Patchwork that  describes how to make the “Oscar” (Oscar Wilde) patchwork. 

My research on my Oscar CQ lead me  to my book library – the infamous “Crazy Quilts” by Penny McMorris (1984)  book and the more recent “Crazy Quilts” by Cindy Brick (which I purchased directly from her  - a signed first edition copy).  Both have sections mentioning “Oscar.”  Whereas Penny’s book directly references his influence on crazy quilts (page 63); Cindy’s book , mentions Oscar in relation to the aesthetic movement along with an illustration of Oscar from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, January 21, 1882, page 381.  The same image – in outline format – was used in clothing store ads to advertise clothing - boys breeches - if you wanted to dress like Oscar for an upcoming lecture.  The above ad came from the February 7, 1882 edition for the Buffalo Evening News, Buffalo, NY.  The Feb 8 edition used the same image along with a description of Oscar's arrival, the stage, etc. 

Excerpt from the Feb 7 ad: “Ladies, We know you are just dying to see HIM, and as he will be here tomorrow, just cut this out and see what a true likeness this is of him.  Of course you know who the dear creature is.  Allow us to present him Ladies, this is OSCAR WILDE!” 

When reviewing the CQ books, I went so far as to pulling out a magnifying glass to see if any of the quilts pictures had an Oscar – but sadly no.  I did however notice that both books used the same antique quilt – page 88 in Penny’s book and page 48 in Cindy’s version – however the image is flipped in Cindy’s book. 

Aside:  There is also a nice description of Crazy Quilts in the October 1882 of The Art Amateur, in the Art Needlework section, but no mention of Oscar in the description.
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25627752?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents