EMBROIDERED SILK POSTCARDS FROM

THE EARLY PERIOD (1899 – 1914)

PART 1

EARLY CARDS WITHOUT A FRAME

In my book, An Illustrated History of the Embroidered Silk Postcard, I stated that the first embroidered silk postcards appeared at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. This statement seemed to be correct at the time, but I now know it to be incorrect. A series of earlier cards were made by a company called Gebruder Schmidt of Vienna, Austria in 1899. Other companies were close behind them.

This page describes the earliest embroidered silk postcards known that share a common feature: there was no frame around the embroidered panel on the front of the postcard. There are separate pages to describe other types:

Early embroidered silk postcards made with a frame

Early embroidered silk postcards made with an appliquéd embroidered silk motif

I would like to thank the contribution of the collectors and experts in early embroidered silk postcards: Bengt Adickes of Goteborg in Sweden and Chris Farrington of Northern Ireland. They provided invaluable information on the postcards and images. If there are any collectors reading this who have more information on any early embroidered silk postcard not listed, please contact the author, Ian Collins, on gabrian@btinternet.com.

Information and images on this site are © Ian Collins 2021.

No part may be reproduced, stored, transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the author.

GEBRUDER SCHMIDT, VIENNA (ca.1899 - 1901)

A series of embroidered silk postcards with simple floral designs was published in 1899 by the company of Gebruder Schmidt (Smith Brothers) of Vienna, Austria. It now seems clear that these postcards were the first ever to be published using embroidery. The earliest known dated card was sent on 27^th July 1899, which is almost a year before the Paris Exhibition of 1900. These cards are so rare that it took decades to find one to purchase. Correspondence with other collectors and my own research, has uncovered thirteen differently designed cards, none of which have the same design. The latest known dated card is from 3rd August 1904, with most of them being between 1899 - 1901, so they were available for only a short period.

The above images show the front and back of a Gebruder Schmidt embroidered silk postcard, and an enlargement of the printed information along the bottom of the back. The card was sent from Ljubljana in Slovenia on 2^nd December 1899 to Leibnitz in Austria. It uses seven colours and was probably made on a Singer embroidery machine.

The postcard was made in two parts: the silk was embroidered onto card printed with a gold-dotted border and a backing sheet of paper was added to cover the reverse of the embroidery, which was also printed with the postage details. The information printed along the bottom shows that numbers 55572 to 55604 were registered by the publisher Gebruder Schmidt in Vienna. This makes 33 different cards in all, so I have seen about a third of them. Unfortunately, the cards are not numbered individually. The earliest cards have just this information. Later cards (such as this) show that the designs are also registered in Germany and the German design registration information.

The front of the cards is printed with "Gruss aus", so the card was intended to be sold within the German speaking regions. There is a space for the message, which could not be written on the undivided address side at this date. This limitation was probably the reason why the front of the postcard was paper: a suitable surface on which to write a message. The address side is printed with the publishing details and "Correspondenz-karte", the typical heading used on Austrian postcards of this period.

A couple of cards in the series have the words "Singer Ringschiff" as part of the printed information along the bottom, making it clear that a Singer machine was used for the embroidery. ("Ringschiff" refers to the circular spool that produced the backing stitch on the Singer sewing machine, which became the standard for sewing machines.)

As Vienna was the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time, Gebruder Schmidt embroidered silk postcards were also produced printed with the Hungarian word "Udvozlet" (meaning: Greetings from) as shown below. The card was sent within the city of Brasso on the Hungarian border with Romania on the 4th February 1900. The address side of the postcards is printed "LEVELEZO-LAP". The postage information is also in Hungarian, together with the publishing information printed along the bottom.

Other cards are known with the Czech words "Pozdrav z" (meaning: Greetings from) printed on the front. The address side is printed with the publishing information in German together with both "Correspondenz-karte" in German and the corresponding Czech: "Korespondencni kistek". The postage information is in German only.

The full listing and more images of these cards can be found in the Cards Listing, under the Early (Pre-1914) Cards section on the page: Early Cards without a Frame.

OTHER EXAMPLES WITH THE EMBROIDERY DIRECTLY INTO THE CARD - UNKNOWN PUBLISHERS

Other publishers were also experimenting with embroidery directly into the card in the early days. Unfortunately, they gave no indication of their name, or it is indecipherable. The cards were professionally made, were collected and saved, and have come down to us, but are extremely rare. They were all short-lived, and there is no evidence for any of them going into significant production.

These two cards were both published in Hungary, are similar in appearance to the Gebruder Schmidt cards, and are marked "LEVELEZO-LAP" on the reverse. The card with the green background was posted in 1899 and the postal details are hand written, so it may have been experimental. The card with the blue flower was and sent in December 1906. The printed information links it to Debrecen, a large Hungarian town.

The above card is shown with its back. It was sent from Argentina on 9^th June 1904. This indicates how widespread the market was for embroidered postcards such as these, which were possibly made in Spain. The embroidery is well done on a blank card that has a paper border stuck to the front, and subsequently machine embossed.. The reverse shows the embroidery on the address side. This is the only card in this style that has been seen.

The above card looks very experimental, if not amateur, using a standard French pre-printed postcard. It is postmarked 18th January 1907 and the embroidery has been done to a decent standard. No similar card has been seen. It is a useful example of how the embroidery on the reverse could be of a good quality, although never as good as on the front.

Two additional examples of cards with the embroidery directly into the card are shown above. There are similarities in these cards that suggest they were made by the same manufacturer, especially the "feathered edge". They do not seem to have been made in quantity but similar examples have been seen. They both have divided backs and card to cover the reverse of the embroidery on the address side. The vertical cards is dated 1906 and the horizontal card is 1910. Another card in this series shows a bunch of roses and buds, and uses appliqued silk fabric for the flowers with embroidered foliage.

BUFF & METTLER, ZURICH, AUSTRIA

The Zurich State Archives record that a wholesale stationery company called Buff & Mettler of Zurich applied for a patent on 30^th January 1900 for a “New Postcard”. The patent was numbered 19196. On the 10^th March 1900, they also applied to the British Patent Office for an “Improved Postcard”. Both inventions were for the same products.

An extract from the British application is reproduced below. To understand it, you need to look at the diagrams below the extract. “The object of the present invention is a postcard which is embroidered on its back or text side. The accompanying drawing illustrates two examples of such a postcard.

Figures 1 to 3 shew a postcard which consists of three folds and bears a floral design.

Figures 4 to 6 shew a postcard which is embroidered with a monogramme (sic).

Figures 2 and 5 are sections on an enlarged scale of the two examples of the postcard.

Figure 1 shews the address side of the postcard which exhibits no special difference from ordinary postcards.

Figure 3 shews a flower embroidered on the back of the card, while Figure 2 shews the manner in which the folds are arranged.”

“The cards are preferably made by machine and so the adhering layers b and c are moved along the cloth frame of the embroidery machine and at a suitable height to be embroidered. The layer a is gummed on after the embroidery has been done, and when dry, the separate postcards can be cut off.”

The diagram below is taken from the British Patent applied for by Buff & Mettler on 10^th March 1900 for an “Improved Postcard”. It illustrates the make-up of the three and two layer postcards.

In summary, two types of postcard were invented: Type 1 was made in three layers; and Type 2 was made in two layers; and the embroidery was done on a machine.

Type 1 is shown in the top diagrams. The three layers consisted of a layer of paper bonded to fabric that was then embroidered, with the visible side of the embroidery on the paper side, making it suitable for a written message alongside the embroidery. This was necessary in in the early period before the address and message could both appear on the same side. The reverse of the embroidery is covered by the third layer, a backing card printed for the address. These are the cards I refer to in my book as being “embroidered directly into the card”.

It took years to discover that there was a fabric layer beneath the two outer paper layers. Except for a single case, the embroidery is on the left hand side of the postcard, leaving a space for the written message, which fitted the convention of the period in picture postcards.

Type 2 is shown in the bottom diagrams. The two layers are: a fabric layer which is embroidered; and a backing card to cover the reverse of the embroidery, printed for the address.

The majority of known embroidered silk postcards made by the Buff & Mettler method are of Type 1, and have undivided backs. Type 2 cards are rare, and none have been seen that carry the Buff & Mettler name. They have been identified from the style of the embroidery and printing. In both types, the patent describes how the backing card was stuck to the embroidered layer before the cards were cut up into individual postcards. Most of them were made in the horizontal format.

To confuse the story even more, some of the postcards are printed: Buff & Mettler, Zurich; some were issued by other named publishers (with and without the Buff & Mettler attribution); and a third group give no indication of the publisher. In addition, some cards are numbered and other cards with the same design are not numbered. All of these thing were happening concurrently, between 1900 and about 1912. Because of the complexity of the manufacturing processes, it is highly likely that all the cards were made by Buff & Mettler and the other names are publishers.

BUFF & METTLER TYPE 1 CARDS (THREE LAYER)

The first dated example that has been seen made by the Buff & Mettler three-layer method shows a single embroidered edelweiss and foliage and is postmarked Zurich 16^th February 1900. That is only 17 days after the patent was applied for in Zurich and likely to have been manufactured before that date. The publisher is not named on the card. It is probably no coincidence that the edelweiss is a prominent design feature of these cards as it is the national flower of Switzerland. A fully embroidered “Gruss aus Zurich” with a pansy and bud dated 10^th April 1900 is also known from this early period. Pansies were another important design feature of these cards. Both cards predate the Paris Exhibition which opened on 14^th April 1900. Neither card bears the publisher’s name nor a number. Even though the first cards appeared before the Exhibition, it is clear that the event was a significant point in their development.

Most of the embroidered cards of the Buff & Mettler three-layer type made for the Paris Exhibition were published by the company of Adolf Grieder & Cie, Zurich. Their cards are clearly marked with their name, printed in dark blue. Sometimes their name is an overprint on an original Buff & Mettler card, as shown below.

Adolf Grieder & Cie was a company based in Zurich that specialised in the sale of silk goods. They were also an established publisher of postcards, including woven silk postcards and picture postcards, all of which were related to the silk trade. Their cards are printed with the caption:"Union des Fabriques de Soieries" or "Seidenstoff Fabrik Union". It is possible that the postcards were intended to advertise this organisation. The company had a significant presence in the Village Suisse at the Paris Exposition and published a set of picture postcards to commemorate it. One of them is shown above and it pictures the "Chalet d'Effretikon" (Effretikon is a town in the Zurich Canton). The sign above the door says "Seidenwaren Adolf Grieder & Cie Zurich"

The card on the right is one of only two known examples that show both the Buff & Mettler and the Adolph Grieder names. It has the number: 20773. This neatly ties the two companies together and offers proof the former manufactured the card and the latter published it with an overprinted caption. The other card is the single edelweiss (shown above). Only cards printed with the Buff & Mettler name are numbered.

Ten cards are known from the Paris Exposition that were published by Adolf Greider & Cie, with no mention of Buff & Mettler, and not numbered. They are overprinted “Souvenir du Village Suisse Paris Exposition 1900”.

The full listing and more images of these cards can be found on the page: Early Cards without a Frame under the Early (Pre-1914) Cards section in the Cards Listing.

The Paris Exposition ran from 14th April to 12th November 1900. Alfred Grieder & Cie continued to publish embroidered postcards made by the Buff & Mettler three-layer process with the same printed captions in dark blue or black after the exhibition closed (omitting the Paris Exhibition caption). The last of their dated cards seen is from 15^th July 1907. All of them have undivided backs and none are numbered. All the cards seen carry the French patent details, which suggests that they were also sold in France. Sixteen cards are known from this period.

After this diversion into Adolf Grieder & Cie, we return to Buff & Mettler. The original Swiss patent number for the invention of their embroidered silk postcards was 19196. They later received a German patent with the number 14263. Cards are known with one or both numbers printed on them. No cards are known with a British patent number. Most of the cards do not carry the Buff & Mettler name, but the details are printed in the same red typeface as those cards that carry the name, and these are numbered. Some of these designs are also seen in cards without a number or printed details, and some are seen with the Adolph Grieder overprinted details. Such is the complexity in describing these cards.

The printing on the cards varies and is complicated, and would require a long and detailed account to explain every detail. In summary: the earliest cards had the publisher’s details on the address side but, almost immediately, they moved to the front. The Swiss and German patent numbers also appeared when the information moved to the front. One or the other, or both, were used, with and without the card number or the publisher’s details. Cards by Adolf Grieder & Cie carry the French patent details only. It seems that cards with no printed details were produced throughout the life of these products, especially towards the end in about 1910. The cards have identical postal instructions and layout printed on the reverse, which is further proof that all of them were manufactured by Buff & Mettler.

Twenty-one numbered cards are known and there are gaps in the numbers. There is no evidence that Buff & Mettler published any other postcards than the ones in this embroidered series, so it is likely that there more cards to be discovered to fill the gaps. Most of the numbers have five digits and the highest is 21323, with a few six digit numbers.

The full listing and more images of these cards can be found on the page: Early Cards without a Frame under the Early (Pre-1914) Cards section in the Cards Listing.

Two numbered cards shown above are printed in red, with both the German and Swiss patent numbers, but no mention of Buff & Mettler, even though the cards were clearly made by them. The yacht scene was posted on 25th October 1907 to an address in Philadelphia. A surprising number of early embroidered silk postcards have survived that were either sent to or posted within the United States. The card on the right uses the edelweiss design, which was probably the earliest design of these cards. The red flower is the alpenrosen, a design feature of many Swiss embroidered silk postcards from all periods. The Swiss, white cross shield is accompanied by a shield of the Neuchatel Canton. Similar designs are known with shields for the Cantons of Appenzell, Bern, St. Gallen and Zurich, indicating that these areas were where most of the cards were sold in Switzerland.

The last group of cards made using the Buff & Mettler three-layer method carry no indication of publisher, no numbers, or patent information. It is clear that these cards were made by Buff & Mettler: some of the designs are the same as attributed cards (which may also have a number); in addition, the printed information on the address side is identical. Some examples of these cards are shown below.

The full listing and more images of these cards can be found on the page: Early Cards without a Frame under the Early (Pre-1914) Cards section in the Cards Listing.

OTHER EXAMPLES OF TYPE 1 BUFF & METTLER CARDS

Some other rare cards are known that are made in the Buff & Mettler Type 1 style in three layers. Buff & Mettler probably made these cards as they were laid out in the same way with the image on the left, leaving a space for the message on the front of the undivided back cards. Also, no other company had a patent or, presumably, the expertise.

These two cards have "Manufactured in Switzerland" printed in gold typeface down the left hand side of the card. The backs are printed "POST CARD". They are both slightly larger than standard Buff & Mettler cards. Clearly they were made for specific places in the United Kingdom.

The Glasgow Exhibition was held from May to November in 1901. This is an image of the Industrial Hall, the main building at the exhibition and is the only embroidered card that has been seen for the event.

The Crystal Palace card was posted in the United Kingdom in April 1909. It has a design based on a Buff & Mettler card published by Adolf Grieder et Cie for the Paris Exhibition in 1900, except the rose and shamrock in that card have been replace with thistles. The embroidered Crystal Palace title is appliquéd.

These cards come from Turin, Italy and the silk used for the embroidery is thicker than that in the Buff & Mettler cards shown above. It is likely that this effect was the result of using a different embroidery machine in their manufacture. They are printed on the address side in Italian, with two company names: Francois Ricami and Maurier, Torta & Co. It is likely that they were made by Buff & Mettler and the names are of the importer and the publisher, but it is not known which is which.

The card on the left shows the Basilica di Superga which stands on a hill overlooking Turin. The Santuario della Consolata is also in Turin. Both cards have an undivided back and identical printed details on the address side, but are not dated. It is likely that they were made for a specific (but unknown) event. Other similar cards may exist.

The Oriental Embroidery Co. Inc. Baltimore

This company produced a range of embroidered silk postcards that were manufactured by the Buff & Mettler three-layer method. All of them have divided backs and only one is dated. Seven differently designed cards and known and they were all sourced from the United States.

The "Greetings from Baltimore" card below is dated 11^th February 1907. It has a divided back and the words "Post Card" are translated into twelve European languages, which indicates it originated in Central Europe. It is likely that Buff & Mettler manufactured these cards in Switzerland, but there is no indication of this, and none of the designs have been seen from any other publisher. The embroidered rabbit on the other card is a very advanced design for the period and not seen on any other card.

J.W.N. Co. Providence, Rhode Island, United States

J.W.N. were a publisher of postcards made with a patented process of sandwiching a real photograph between two thin sheets of wood. Pictures were burnt into the wood and hand coloured. They were in operation between 1905 and 1912.

A single embroidered silk postcard is known that was published by J.W.N. and it is shown below. It has the single pansy design identical to the Buff & Mettler card number 20770, except an oval hole has been cut through the three layers of the card to allow the insertion of a photograph. The back is covered by a fourth layer of (undivided) paper for the address details. The card must have been imported from Buff & Mettler in Switzerland. The card has a message in French from Rose, who may be the person in the photograph. The back is printed: "Patented by J.W.N. CO. April 3, 1906." It was addressed to New Bedford, Massachusetts.

In summary, at least eighty designs of embroidered postcards, including caption variations, are known that were manufactured by the Buff & Mettler three-layer method. The last dated card seen with an undivided back is for 7^th October 1907. Many fewer cards were made with a divided back, and all the ones seen are associated with the American market. The last card seen was dated 4th July 1912.

The full listing and more images of these cards can be found on the page: Early Cards without a Frame under the Early (Pre-1914) Cards section in the Cards Listing.

BUFF & METTLER TYPE 2 CARDS (TWO LAYER)

These embroidered silk postcards were described in the British patent application of March 1900 and are extremely rare. In these cards, the fabric layer carrying the embroidery is stuck to the card below, covering the reverse of the embroidery. None of the cards made by the two-layer method can be directly attributed to Buff & Mettler. Fortunately, the card with the pansy and foliage design (shown below) is identical to that illustrated in the British patent application of 1900, and the Type 1 card made by the three-layer method (also known as numbered design 20729), illustrated above. All the evidence shows that Buff & Mettler were the manufacturer. This example has a gold embossed frame.

The fabric backing to the embroidery is not as fine as that found on other embroidered silk postcards, and is probably the same fabric used as the internal "sandwich" layer in the cards made by the three-layer method. It is clearly difficult to write on, as shown by the fact that the writing has "bled" into the fabric on the cards below. This is possibly the reason why this process does not seem to have been used when the cards had to have an undivided back and the message had to be written on the front.

Three other cards known from this series are known. One shows the United States flag, another has the badge of the Knight's Templar, and the third has a Teddy bear carrying the United States flag. They all have the same red “Greetings from” caption in identical script. All these cards are only 8 cm wide, not the usual 9cm, have divided backs, and date from about 1905 - 1908. The backs of the cards are identical, with the words "Post Card" translated into French, German and Spanish, which suggests they were made in Europe and imported into the United States. The cards seen in this series were all postally used in the United States.

St Louis World's Fair 1904

At least six embroidered silk postcards were published to commemorate the St Louis World's Fair held in 1904. These cards have frames and don't really belong here. However, it is now clear that the embroidered silk panels for the exhibition cards were made by Buff & Mettler, and represent the earliest examples of the use of their two layer process.

The above card on the left is the original design made using the Buff & Mettler three layer process, and published by Adolf Grieder. The St Louis World's Fair design is identical (with minor colour and layout variations) but made by the two layer process of embroidery into a fabric backing. The embroidery in the St Louis card is slightly coarser and similar to the Turin cards shown above, which is the case in all the St Louis cards. See the page on Early Cards with a Frame for further details.

Komaki & Co. Yokohama, Japan

Five embroidered silk postcards made by the Buff & Mettler two-layer method are known from the Komaki Company of Yokohama in Japan. One of them carries the patent number 8673 and a Komakiya trade mark. The backs are divided and printed with "Union Postale Universelle" and "Carte Postale". This indicates that the cards were imported from Europe and published by Komaki. There is no indication of the manufacturer, but it is highly likely to have been Buff & Mettler as there seems to be no other source of these cards. This company also published a few woven silk postcards that show Japanese scenes.

Two types of cards have been seen: one fully embroidered, the other where a background of foliage is printed on the silk and embroidered with flower heads. An example of each type is shown above. The card on the left was sent on 8^th January 1910 from a sailor called Jack on board HMS Bedford in Hong Kong, having bought the card in Yokohama. The message is interesting: “This flower can be seen wherever one goes in Japan, hanging in festoons from the eves of bungalos (sic) and climbing in the lower branches of trees. It is used in many of the Japanese designs on vases, Satsuma ware and Cloisonné ware. I got the Jap in the shop to write the name on the card in Japanese and also in English. He called it “Ayome” … one of our boys who knows something of flowers calls it Wistaria (sic) …”

Other Buff & Mettler Type 2 Embroidered Postcards

The only known card with an undivided back made by the two-layer Buff & Mettler process has embroidered pansies around a diamond shape printed with a swallow among grasses, and is shown below. It is unused and unposted, which offers no further information The reverse is printed "POSTKARTE", so it could be Swiss. The design of this card bears no relation to any other card seen, and it may have been experimental.

The final two cards made by the Buff & Mettler two-layer process both date from 1908. They have divided backs and identical postal information printed on the reverse, which indicates that they were both produced around the same time and by the same company, but give no indication of the manufacturer.

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