Exclusive stationary with gorgeous raisable paper cutting objects , ca. 1870

TWO LETTERHEADS WITH TIPPED-ON MULTICOLOUR RAISABLE PAPER CUTTING. S. l. [Austria or Hungary]: S. a. [ca. 1870].

13,8 x 20,7 cm and 27,6 x 20,7 x ca. 2,5 cm (open) resp. 2 double sheets. Colour lithography on cardboard, punched lace on ruled paper with gilt and silver coloured framing.

Two specimen of exclusive stationary with gorgeous raisable paper cutting objects tipped-on, both consisting of rich pictorial decoration.

The front sheets of both letterheads show punched lace framing and blind embossing depicting floral ornaments, one with gilt and the other with silver colouring. Tipped-on the upper left part both specimen incorporate highly elaborate paper-engineering work, raisable cardboard cuttings with printed motifs in colour lithography: Whereas one of them depicts a Cupid, a wreath of flowers and a bird carrying a letter around its neck, the other shows a window framed with flowers and with a transparent foil to look through by using an attached lorgnon. The first letterhead was obviously intended for writing love letter, the second probably to report an important event to focus on. Raisable paper cutting objects were also used for occasion cards, the present are probably of Austrian or Hungarian origin.

Condition: Paper occasionally with very minor foxing and creasing, in general very well preserved specimen.

Reference: Thun-Hohenstein/Pokorny-Nagel, Ephemera, 2017, p. 125f., Illustr. 102 (for a comparable letter paper of British origin).