Michael Lehr Antiques
Live Auction

June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction

Wed, Jun 24, 2026 11:00AM EDT
  2026-06-24 11:00:00 2026-06-24 11:00:00 America/New_York Michael Lehr Michael Lehr : June 2026 Vernacular Photo History Auction https://auction.michaellehrantiques.com/auctions/michael-lehr-antiques/june-2026-vernacular-photo-history-auction-23574
Our June 2026 auction presents a focused and exceptional selection of historical photographs spanning the 1840s through the early twentieth century, with unusual depth in named subjects, rare formats, and documented provenance anchored by strong vernacular material that rewards close looking.
Michael Lehr Antiques info@michaellehrantiques.com
Lot 295

Cabinet Card, Christmas Greeting, Hand with Flowers, London

Estimate: $100 - $200
Starting Bid
$50

Bid Increments

Price Bid Increment
$0 $5
$100 $10
$200 $25
$500 $50
$1,000 $100
$2,000 $250
$5,000 $5,000
$10,000 $1,000
$20,000 $2,000
$50,000 $5,000
A man's extended arm holds a decorative bouquet of applied paper flowers, ferns, and large pressed leaves in this hand-colored and embellished albumen cabinet card produced by J. Beagles and Co. of London, with the greeting "Wishing you a Happy Christmas" printed in ornate gold gothic lettering along the lower mount border and the publisher's copyright line beneath. The mount is cream with gilt decorative text, and the reverse bears a partially legible penciled inscription reading "For [name] from [name]" with the notations "#28" and "500" below.

The composition centers on a male wrist and hand emerging from a dark jacket sleeve with visible shirt cuff and cufflinks, grasping a large fan-shaped arrangement. The bouquet incorporates two oversized pressed leaves, one olive-green with mottled texture and one deep red with painted veining, interspersed with white paper flowers with red and gold bead centers, pink blossoms, and sprigs of fern. A small gold horseshoe charm engraved "Forget Me Not" hangs from the wrist, with a tiny blue forget-me-not flower tucked beside it.

J. Beagles and Co. was a prolific London publisher of novelty and greeting cabinet cards in the 1880s and 1890s, producing copyright photographic cards combining albumen prints with hand-applied embellishments including paper flowers, fabric, and metallic ornaments for the seasonal gift trade. The horseshoe and forget-me-not motif were standard Victorian tokens of luck and remembrance.

The reverse bears a partially legible penciled gift inscription, along with the notations "#28" and "500" in a later hand.

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