Phyllis Purser: Nothing Negative about these Perfect Little Works of Art

I don’t claim to have any knowledge of these ‘little works of art’ I am simply sharing them for your enjoyment. They are in a very old album, or possibly a book of samples, which would have been carried by a salesman. Sketches & Designs is written on the spine, and a business card for The Photochrom Company is pasted inside the front cover.

Photochrom, sometimes spelt Fotochrom or Photochrome is a process for producing colourised images from black-and-white photographic negatives. I’m not the best person to try to explain the process, but if you would like to know more a quick Google search should supply all the information you need.

The following images are all by Phyllis Purser:

IMAGES BY MRS. P. M. PURSER (PHYLLIS PURSER):  REFERENCE NUMBERS D.5099  - D.5101 

The album contains 240 images by well-known and not so well-known artists. I recognise some of the names like Frank Mason, Phyllis Purser, Enid Warne-Browne and Susan B Pearse while others such as Ernest Uden and Persis Kirmse are unfamiliar to me. Most measure 3.5 x 2.5 inches, although some are postcard size or larger. Each has a unique reference number and / or a title.  

PHYLLIS PURSER: REFERENCE NUMBERS D.5102  - D.5107

I won’t be able to share them all, but I will share a sample of each artists work. I hope it will be useful for anyone researching the Photocrom Company or the individual artists.

PHYLLIS PURSER: REFERENCE NUMBERS D.5142  - D.5147

PHYLLIS PURSER: REFERENCE NUMBERS D.5148 - D.5152

I’ve done a little online searching and matched a few of the images to postcards. The one on the left was published by Photochrom (the same name as on the business card) and the one on the right is as it appears in the album. The words on the postcard are; 'taint what we have, but what we give, taint what we are, but how we live, taint what we do, but how we do it, that makes life worth going thro’ it’

The image on the left is from the album and the one on the right is a postcard with the caption ’twould be nice to see your face again.

At first glance, I thought this 

looked very similar to this postcard found on Pinterest but actually, there are lots of subtle or not so subtle differences. 

To me, the original image looks incomplete, but the teddies and dolls on the finished postcard bring it to life. The little elves sitting on the wall are very reminiscent of the Boo-Boos as drawn by Mabel Lucie Attwell. The Boo-Boos were incredibly popular at the time so adding something similar probably made the postcard more commercial.  

 Mabel Lucie Attwell's Boo-Boos

Phyllis Miriam Palmer (Purser) (1893 - 1989)

The second daughter of Thomas Palmer, a printer and

stationer, and Beatrice. Lived at Grantham, Lincolnshire.

studied at the Nottingham School of Art. Worked from home

as an illustrator. Began by designing postcards for Alphalsa

Publishing and Vivian Mansell Postcards. In 1917 married

Jack Purser, who soon went to war. On his return, they lived

in Paris where Phyllis continued to draw. Worked for
J. Salmon of Sevenoaks. Returned to England in 1921, lived
at Hoylake on the Wirral. Produced designs for Photocrom
of Tunbridge Wells. She eventually produced postcards,
greetings cards, Valentines and gift tags. Most prolific in the
years prior to the Second World War. Later returned to painting,
taking up her art training again.Exhibited at the Society of
Women Artists (1973). Salmon and Vivian Mansell published

her work for the rest of her life and  continued to print her designs
long after her death.

Sources

The Dictionary of British Women Artists 

Rozanne Purser obituary (Phyllis Purser's daughter) 

Artist Biographies

Salesman samples are scaled-down versions of real products used to demonstrate features to retailers or potential customers. Also known as salesmen samples or salesman’s samples, these miniature goods were popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, as they were easily transportable by travelling salespeople and allowed dealers to display a variety of items in their showrooms. Read more Collectors Weekly.com 

More images from the album will be found here here and here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday morning dawned bright and beautiful but with more rain on the way, it was time to grab my camera and head out into the garden. As I process the photographs just a couple of hours later I can hear the rain beating against the windows. It’s hard to believe how quickly the weather changes, but then it is April, so we have to expect April showers.

Is this a crane do you suppose?  I’m not sure, but I can tell you it enjoys a sunny spot under an old apple tree.

I’ve just been reliably informed this is a Great Blue Heron (thank you Marcia and Eve). My blog readers are the best!

The rock plants are lovely at this time of the year, and this purple aubretia is one of my favourites. For those of you who appreciate ‘botanical correctness' I believe aubrietia is the proper spelling, but I’ve always known them as aubretia. They are growing in a wall that skirts the patio, funnily enough they don’t do well on the rockery, but they are very happy in the wall.  

The Pieris Japonicas are doing especially well this year. This one is growing under a weeping cherry which is just beginning to flower.

Close-up of the white bell-shaped flowers of the Pieris Japonica if you are looking for an evergreen shrub for your garden this could be the one. They put on a spectacular display of flowers and new growth in a variety of colours from pink to dark burgundy.

The keen-eyed among you will have spotted the naked lady in the corner. She is Freya (or Freyja) a Norse goddess associated with love, sex, beauty, fertility, gold, war and death. If you would like to know more about this particular goddess, there is a mass of information online.  We fell in love with her when she was shiny, bright and new, these days she has weathered, and taken on a patina and life of her own. She presides over the garden, and often goes for midnight walks – either that or there is some other mischief afoot!  

The weeping cherry, this glorious sight will be short lived because of all the wind and rain. 

I’m not certain, but I think this is a Malus or crab apple. It has apple like fruit in the autumn and pretty peach/pink flowers in March and April.  

No spring garden is complete without a few Primulas. 

This  nesting box was a present from my sister and her husband. We are eagerly waiting to see if someone sets up home in it.  It was very brightly painted when new, but it’s beginning to fade and blend in with the honeysuckle, so we are hopeful.

Thrift or Sea Pink (Armeria Maritima) makes perfect ground cover for gravel gardens or growing in a wall as it is here. 

 Another photograph of the Pieris Japonica looking especially pretty against the blue Forget-Me-Nots, the green shoots to the right are the first signs of another favourite, Lilly of the Valley.

This pot of daffodils looking lovely in the sunshine is a bedraggled and sorry sight now. The rain came down so hard it flattened them. I'm hoping they will pick up but if not, I will put a few sticks in the pot to help support them. 

The Christmas Roses (Helleborus) are still flowering, but they will soon be taking a rest only to appear again next December. According to legend, a young shepherdess by the name of Madelon was tending her sheep one cold winter’s night. As she watched over her sheep, three wise men passed by bearing gifts for the baby Jesus. Madelon began to cry because she had no gift to bring the Newborn King. An angel, hearing her weeping appeared and brushed away the snow to reveal a beautiful flower – the Christmas Rose. I think of that story every year when the first flowers appear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Terry asked me to thank everyone for the get-well wishes. He will have to take life a little slower than usual for a while, but he is on the mend.

Do you think the album could be a tradesman’s sample book? Would you enjoy seeing more images from it? Do you have a favourite spring flower?  I would love to know your thoughts so please leave a comment.