I have a set of Japanese matchbox labels, probably from the very early 1900s. The printing quality on them isn’t very good, with most of them being out of register. But that’s what I found rather charming about them. I’m also thinking that maybe they were “factory rejects!” There’s no advertising on them, so perhaps they just didn’t make it through “quality control.” Who knows?
These would look good individually or as a grouping — perhaps printed on metal to make the colors really pop.
Here's the link to the full-resolution versions of these pictures if you'd like to see them in greater detail:
https://carol-leigh.pixels.com/collections/designer+series+japanese+geisha+matchbox+labels
A buyer from New York purchased these two (of the 12 that are available). I hope they look superb wherever he or she decides to put them.
Images copyright ©2019 Carol Leigh.
