Between the Covers

Unbound. A vintage print illustration of a tattooed lady dressed in her carnival attire pasted on card stock, neatly cutout and affixed to a piece of poster board measuring approximately 12 ½" x 18". The figure is creased horizontally in the middle from being folded, as well as along the shoulders, else very good or better. On the verso of the figure is a bit of handwritten text that was written before the figure was cut out, thus most of it is missing; what remains is as follows, as best as we can make it out, "Miss Rose Lee / your collector (?) / [unintelligible] / Broad S / Newark." There is a distinctive patriotic theme in the figure's tattoos, with an overall red, white, and blue motif, the word "Union" over a take on the Great Seal just above her right knee, stars, and eagles. We have not been able to find another representation of this figure. Though it does bare a striking resemblance two pieces created much later, Andy Warhol's *Tattooed Woman Holding a Rose* and the related piece, *Tattooed Woman* (the former famously decorated with the names and logos of companies he wished to illustrate for), and while many examples of "tattooed ladies" exist, it's the distinct inclusion of a rose prominently displayed at the center of the figure's chest that draws the comparison. An intriguing piece.

Item #612926