First Night Design | “Ah, every day dear Herbert becomes de plus en plus Oscarié…”

Update 21-10-14: Alas, the Wilde family have very strict control of their famous forebear’s work and this wonderful image has not been allowed so is no longer for sale at my Zazzle vintage store.

Oscar Wilde by Napoleon Sarony 1882 

New to my vintage store on Zazzle is this glorious sepia photograph of the inimitable Oscar Wilde. It was taken in 1882 by Napoleon Sarony and hangs in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I was able to use it as the image is in the public domain on Wikimedia.

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“Ah, every day dear Herbert becomes de plus en plus Oscarié. It is a wonderful case of nature imitating art.” Wilde commenting on actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s unwitting acquisition of certain on-stage character traits in a Wilde play in his off-stage life.

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First Night Design | Constantinople Business Cards

One from the archives.

First Night Design

Constantinople Business Cards

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First Night Design | Capturing Times Past in a Frame

Remembrance of Times Past
by Sarah Vernon

This post is purely because I wanted to show off one of my images in a frame as sold at Redbubble. Remembrance looks rather splendid surrounded by a cherry wood frame, don’t you think? Several other options are available. The image has been featured in no less than five groups on the art site which has surprised and delighted me.

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First Night Design | Remembrance of Times Past

Remembrance of Times Past © First Night Design

I created this collage with a postcard of actress Pauline Chase [1885-1962] from my theatre collection. When I was in my early teens, if not younger, I was obsessed with spending my pocket money on vintage theatrical postcards and used to spend hours browsing round a magical second-hand bookshop on Richmond Hill in Richmond, Surrey, where I was brought up. The old gentleman who ran the shop was quite fierce or, perhaps, simply wary of children like me ruining his stock. For some reason, he had more postcards of Miss Chase than anyone else.

Pauline Chase was actually an American, born in Washington DC in 1885, but having begun as a child actress in her homeland, she ultimately settled in the UK. If she is known at all these days, it would be for her association with Peter Pan, in which she started in a lesser role for the first production in 1904, graduating to the title role in 1906 when that year’s Peter, Cissie Loftus, was taken ill. J M Barrie was so taken with her performance that she then played Peter until she retired from the stage in 1913. A contemporary review (Daily Mail) for the 1907 productions states that ‘Miss Pauline Chase has improved greatly in her acting…’!

The French script background is from 2 Lil’ Owls.

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First Night Design | Femme Fatale in Sepia

Femme Fatale in Sepia © First Night Design

The back of a vintage postcard from The Old Design Shop proved the perfect setting for this lady and her fan. Where she came from I’m not sure but I believe I picked her up at some village fair when I was in my teens.

Femme Fatale
ˌfam fəˈtɑːl/
An attractive and seductive woman, especially one who will ultimately cause distress to a man who becomes involved with her. Early 20th century: French, literally ‘disastrous woman’.

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First Night Design | Constantinople Business Cards

Constantinople Business Cards

Try something a little different for your next business card!

Take care and keep laughing.

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