Wurtz-Pées - Wurttemberg (Wuerttemberg)

 Hello,

Today I am once again showing an insert from "Soldats Napoléoniens" featuring hand-drawn soldiers from the Wurtz-Pées family. This time, they are troops from Württemberg.

Best regards,

Andreas

Deutsche Schutztruppe - Oehmigke & Riemschneider Neuruppin - Heinrich Kruse Kaffee

 Hello,

Today I am showing you another advertising print—roughly A4 in size—this time for coffee products from the Kruse company. 

The manufacturer (Oehmigke & Riemschneider) has also left their mark on this piece, something that unfortunately happens only very rarely. Depicted are 18 small German colonial soldiers wearing the grey home-service uniform with the light-blue insignia for German South-West Africa. This uniform was introduced in 1896/97 and worn until 1915, when the colony surrendered.

Best regards,

Andreas

Preussische Infanterie - Zentraltheater Wien

 Hello,

Today I’m showing you a promotional sheet from the Zentraltheater Vienna, roughly A5 in size. It depicts Prussian infantrymen marching in groups. Unfortunately, the print bears no indication of who produced it; several Austrian or German publishers are likely candidates.

Best regards,

Andreas

Wurtz-Pées - Bavarian Infantry

 Hello,

Today, I’m sharing another magazine insert from "Soldats Napoléoniens" featuring hand-painted figures from the Wurtz-Pées collection. This time, the six pages cover Bavarian infantry. As beautiful as these figures are to look at—and as impressive as this family collection of paper figures is—these Bavarian examples clearly demonstrate that they are unsuitable for drawing historical conclusions about Napoleonic-era uniforms. I consider myself a hobbyist uniform researcher, and Bavarian uniforms are a particular passion of mine (being Bavarian myself). Unfortunately, a glance at these figures reveals many painted details that bear little resemblance to the reality of the period depicted. For instance, Bavarian non-commissioned officers did not wear French-style sleeve rank insignia; regimental musicians wore long coats and hats; and officers never wore gorgets and sashes simultaneously... Some of the reverse sides are interesting, too. The cardboard backing used here sometimes bears the date 1856! This suggests that these figures originated in the final phase of the collection's creation, whereas the production period is usually cited as 1825 to 1850.

Best regards,

Andreas

Kaiserlich Deutsche Marine - Oehmigke & Riemschneider Neuruppin Nr.9703

Hello,

A few weeks ago, I managed to find this lovely sheet by Oehmigke & Riemschneider at a small online antiquarian shop. 

Based on the number 9703, it can be dated to 1896 (or the 1895–97 timeframe). The sheet is stencil-colored and depicts the Imperial German Navy—specifically sailors, soldiers of the See-Battalion, and naval artillerymen—in combat poses. 

Best regards, Andreas.

J.F.Schreiber 343 - Gefecht zwischen Deutschen und Franzosen

Hello,

it's time to show you something from JFS again! 

This time it's a complete sheet with figures from the early days of World War I. The title is "Battle between Germans and French." As is typical with so many JFS WW1 related sheets, figures from previously released sets have been recombined.

Best regards,

Andreas

Wurtz-Pées - Nassau & Reuss Army

 Hello,

today I'm showing you another supplement from the magazine "Soldats Napoleoniens" featuring handcrafted figurines by the Wurtz-Pées family. This time, it includes soldiers from Nassau and the Principality of Reuss.

Best regards,

Andreas

J.F.Schreiber 934 - Die Soldaten Friedrichs des Großen, Füsiliere angreifend

Hello,

Today I'm showing you something again from the J.F. Schreiber publishing house in Esslingen. While my research with other major German publishers is somewhat stalled, I'm currently managing to find new information and items from Schreiber.

The sheet I'm presenting today was drawn by Eugen Blumentritt and sold in the 1930s and 1940s. The 12 fusiliers on it are about 8.5 cm tall. The sheet belongs to a series of 10 intended to depict the army of Frederick the Great. The figures have a very simplified, almost cartoonish style.

This sheet is very interesting; it seems to have been a kind of sample sheet used by a salesperson. On the back, a list with the contents and numbers of all ten sheets in this series has been carefully affixed. There are also two stickers indicating the booklets with sheets available from the publisher. There was a booklet with 25 sheets for 3.15 Reichsmarks, or a larger version with 50 sheets for 6.15 Reichsmarks.

Best regards, 

Andreas

Imagerie Quantin Paris - German Army

Hello,

today I'm showing you a sheet from the Imagerie Quantin in Paris. It doesn't quite fall into the "paper soldiers" category, meaning the figures weren't intended to be cut out and displayed. Rather, it's an example from the world of "picture sheets."

However, since I stumbled across this print for a song—and the manufacturer even made it into Edward Ryan's book "Paper Soldiers"—I'm presenting it here.

The figures, about 7 cm tall, depict early German field-gray uniforms from World War I. The print can therefore likely be dated to between 1914 and 1916.

Best regards,

Andreas

1.Garde Regiment zu Fuß, Musikkorps, RAPI S7

Hello and Happy New Year to you all!

Today I'm showing you a figure sheet from Rauert & Pittius in Sorau. It's number 7 and was the first in a series of 11 sheets depicting the Guard troops of the German Empire.

It shows the band of the Prussian 1.Guard Regiment (zu Fuß). Unfortunately, my copy is a bit worn, and the printing is slightly out of register, so the figures appear a little blurry and not as sharp and high-contrast as is usually the case with Rapi.

Nevertheless, they are wonderful figures that very accurately represent the characteristics of this regiment's uniforms.

This series was probably produced in the early 1930s.

The figures are 8 cm tall.

Best regards,

Andreas

bei Joseph Scholz in Mainz No.55 - Preussische Armee 1.Garde-Regiment

Hello,

today I'm showing you a very old print from the Scholz publishing house.

These sheets, signed "by Joseph Scholz in Mainz," likely represent Scholz's first series of soldier prints and date from the late 1830s and 1840s.

Surprisingly, all early Scholz sheets with Prussian motifs are more or less incorrectly colored. This is particularly noticeable here due to the dark green (instead of dark blue) uniforms. Perhaps they were attempting to depict Russian uniforms? Maybe these prints were originally only in black and white and were colored later. Or were these sheets even produced in different colors? Unfortunately, they are too rare, and I haven't seen enough to make any definitive statements. But it's certainly striking and a curiosity.

The paper used for these prints is very thin. The figures measure approximately 13 cm from toes to forehead.

Best regards, 

Andreas

German Army - Marcel Vagné No.528

Hello,

today I'm showing you another sheet from Vagné. 

This one is number 528 and depicts an overview of troops from the German Army. Besides a few Bavarian and Saxon figures, it's naturally the Prussians who dominate. The figures are meant to represent the uniforms of 1889 (only the Bavarians are shown with references to earlier years). The whole thing is drawn in the typical comic style of this Vagné series.

The figures are about 7.5 cm tall.

Best regards,

Andreas