Tuesday Treasures - September 9, 2025

Recent finds at St. Vincent de Paul.

Two antique hand-colored steel engravings for $3.00 each.  They are both custom framed and matted, approximate frame size is 9.5" x 7.25".  Since they are under glass, there is some glare in the photos.

Westminster Abbey From St. James Park, about 1740

That's the title, the print is not from 1740.  It's c. 1871 printed for the serial volumes Old and New London, by Cassell, Petter & Galpin, which was published between 1873 and 1878.  Fleming SC in the bottom right corner means the engraver was Fleming, the SC, the abbreviation for "sculpsit," Latin for "engraved it."

Interior of the Albert Hall 
It's likely this too is from Old and New London.
No engraver information, which isn't unusual as many illustrations in the series were anonymous or credited only in editorial records.

The organ is the Henry Willis Organ, shown at the opening ceremony April 29, 1871. It was originally powered by two steam engines.  A  restoration was completed in 2004.

Both have minimal hand-coloring.  Three garments and a wash of blue in the crowd in Albert Hall, and green in the trees and leaves of Westminster Abbey.  These may be examples of the Victorian practice of "editorial tinting," where color wasn't just decorative, it was often symbolic, narrative, or editorial. Many surviving copies of these have no coloring, making these a bit unusual.  

Recent finds at Goodwill.

Three Utagawa Hiroshige prints in original cardboard frames.  I applied my Goodwill loyalty points (check with your local store, some have loyalty programs, but they are regional) so ended up paying about $2 for them.   These are miniature 5.25" x 3.5" versions produced for the tourist trade and export around the 1930s-1940s. 

Oiso (Rain on a town by the coast) No. 8 of The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō

Kanbara (A village in the snow) No. 15 of  The Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō

Seba No. 32 of Sixty-nine Stations of the Kiso Road

This is what I mean by a cardboard frame.  The material is lightweight, but protective (it's quite thick).  These were often marketed to tourists as ready-to-mail souvenirs, sometimes with envelopes.  They were also exported in bulk to large US and European cities for sale in gift shops and department stores.

The prints are sealed in with "hardware" to hang them on the back. 

I wonder which route this trio took to Southern Oregon, souvenir or gift shop?