An Aesthetic Monkey | 1882 CartoonIve been collecting material related to Oscar Wilde and the Aesthetic movement since I was in my teens, but this may be the most bizarre bit of Aesthetic ephemera Ive seen yet! From an 1882 issue of Harpers Monthly. This was the year Oscar Wilde toured America, hired by Gilbert & Sullivans opera company DOly Carte to show America what the Aesthetics movement was all about, so they would get the jokes! Lots of cartoons in various periodicals followed,

These Napoléon III-era

The watercolor tablets are unused and intact

and she was very nearly a keeper since her coloring matches my decor so perfectly

Though many miles we parted be

a rare piece of good fortune

whether your style is Victorian or modern

This amazing

Refer to photos for size and condition: Some fraying along the edges of the leaves & some soiling on the first leaf above the endguard

Vintage & antique antler mounts are common enough

The sleeve is splitting and the record shows some where

Pieces from this pre-Victorian mourning china set are vanishingly scarce

This vintage program is from their Jubilee Show in 1983