Description
Ottilie & Hans Foy / Robert P. Tristram Coffin-TwoHand-Made Greeting Cards-20th Century Art
A group of two hand-made American artist greeting cards.The larger card is associated with artists Ottilie and Hans Foy and features anoriginal graphite and sanguine/red-pencil drawing depicting the Virgin Marywith the Christ Child reaching toward a star, accompanied by two animals. Thecard also bears a printed decorative greeting reading “May Fortune pluck foryou her fairest flower” and the names Ottilie and Hans Foy. The smaller card isa 1931 Christmas greeting from Robert P. Tristram Coffin and his wife,featuring a black woodcut print of three silhouetted shepherds beneathradiating light above a distant town. The interior contains a Christmas poemabout shepherds and is printed “The Season’s Greetings, 1931 / Mr. and Mrs.Robert P. Tristram Coffin.”
Hans Foy (1892–1971) was a Brooklyn-born Americanpainter, illustrator, and commercial artist. Trained initially as alithographer, he worked extensively in commercial illustration and illustratedThe Gospel of St. Luke in 1930. During the 1920s and 1930s, Foy exhibited inNew York and at major institutions including the Whitney Museum of AmericanArt, the Brooklyn Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago. His wife, OttilieFoy, was also a professional commercial artist and illustrator, and archivalcorrespondence documents the couple’s shared connections within the Americangraphic-arts and publishing community.
Robert P. Tristram Coffin (1892–1955) was an Americanpoet, author, educator, illustrator, and artist strongly associated with Maineand New England culture. A longtime professor of English at Bowdoin College,Coffin received the 1936 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for Strange Holiness. Inaddition to his extensive literary career, Coffin drew and illustrated his ownwork and is documented as having designed his own Christmas cards, making thepresent 1931 greeting a particularly characteristic example of his combinationof poetry and visual art.
The two cards are in good condition for their age. TheFoy card exhibits minor handling marks, scattered age-related toning anddiscoloration, and light edge wear. The Coffin card exhibits minor handling andedge wear. Please refer to the pictures for condition.
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Details:
• Artists: Ottilie Foy and Hans Foy (1892–1971); RobertP. Tristram Coffin (1892–1955)
• Object: Two hand-made artist greeting cards
• Date:
– Foy card: 20thcentury
– Coffin card:1930s
• Medium:
– Foy card:Graphite and sanguine/red pencil drawing with printed elements on paper
– Coffin card:Woodcut print and letterpress text on paper
• Inscriptions:
– Foy card: “MayFortune pluck for you her fairest flower / Ottilie and Hans Foy”
– Coffin card:“The Season’s Greetings, 1931 / Mr. and Mrs. Robert P. Tristram Coffin”
• Dimensions:
– Foy card: 7.5 x6 in
– Coffin card:6.25 x 4.5 in
• Condition: Good; minor handling marks, age-relatedtoning and discoloration, light edge wear, and old paper or mounting residue onverso of the Coffin card
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Disclaimer
I have conducted thorough research to ensure the accuracyand authenticity of these works to the best of my ability. However, they aresold as is, with no guarantees or warranties regarding provenance or historicalattribution.
