Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Raphael Tuck & Sons Pre-printed Nursery Rhyme Blocks




I am trying to determine the age of this crib quilt, which is 35x51 and came out of the Waco TX area.

Does anyone recognize the images on these printed nursery rhyme blocks? 

I am thinking the images might have been printed since 1960 onto fabric, therefore making this crib quilt of fairly recent vintage. But the artwork used thy the manufacturer of the fabric line is older than the 20th century. 









I was able to decipher the printing at the bottom edge of one of the blocks, stretching the seam line apart on the Tom Thumb block. 







It says "Raphael Tuck & Sons Ltd."







From there I googled "Raphael Tuck & Sons" and came up with this:


“Raphael Tuck & Sons was a business started by Raphael Tuck and his wife in Bishopsgate in the City of London on October 1866, selling pictures and greeting cards, and eventually selling postcards, the latter being the most successful. Their business was one of the most well known in the 'postcard boom' of the late 1800s and early 1900s. Their contributions left a lasting effect on most of the artistic world. During The Blitz, the company headquarters, Raphael House, was destroyed including the originals for most of their series. The company never fully recovered.”







Were these designs printed in recent years?  Or between 1900 and 1960s perhaps? 

Have any of you seen this fabric on the bolt in a quilt shop? 


Thanks for your help!


2 comments:

  1. I have a lot of Tuck postcards in my collection -- they're generally well done and very graphic. I've not seen these -- will ask on the appraiser listserv.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is something I have not seen before, sorry not much help.

    ReplyDelete