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A curated shop for vintage, collectible, decorative, and quality pre-owned finds.
【 Item Description 】
Wonderful and highly collectible antique 1903 “Yard Long” advertising lithograph featuring the charming children’s illustration “Butterfly Time” by celebrated American illustrator Maud Humphrey.
The artwork is signed “Maud Humphrey 1903” in the lower-right portion of the image and features a group of beautifully illustrated children surrounded by roses and butterflies.
Centered near the bottom is the early advertising text:
“THEY ALL LIKE
YANKEE LABEL BREAD
‘It’s Smackin’ Good’
‘Butterfly Time’”
The lower-left edge is marked:
“904 THE GRAY LITH CO”
This large-format piece combines several desirable collecting categories: Maud Humphrey illustration, early 20th-century advertising, food and bakery advertising, chromolithographic/lithographic paper ephemera, and the classic “yard long” format.
Maud Humphrey was one of the best-known American illustrators of children around the turn of the 20th century and was also the mother of actor Humphrey Bogart. Her idealized portraits of children appeared extensively in books, advertising, calendars, prints, and other commercial artwork of the period.
Details:
• Artist: Maud Humphrey
• Date: 1903
• Title: “Butterfly Time”
• Advertiser: Yankee Label Bread
• Advertising slogan: “It’s Smackin’ Good”
• Publisher / printer marking: The Gray Lith. Co.
• Printer number: 904
• Format: Antique yard-long advertising lithograph
• Material: Heavy paper / paper stock
• Approximate size: 35\" long x 10\" high
• Unframed
• Yardsticks shown in the photographs are for measurement only and are not included
The “yard long” format—typically approximately 36 inches in length—was a popular decorative and advertising format during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Surviving paper examples are increasingly difficult to find, especially examples combining a known illustrator with early commercial food advertising.
【 Condition Report 】
Authentic antique condition dating to 1903.
The lithograph retains lovely soft pastel coloring and strong visual detail throughout. Considering its age of more than 120 years, it presents very nicely.
Expected signs of age and previous storage include edge bumping, corner wear, small surface marks, areas of toning and discoloration, and light soiling. The reverse shows age-related wear and some residue/roughness along portions of the edges, as visible in the detailed photos.
No frame is included.
Please examine all photographs closely, including the close-up images of the edges, corners, printing marks, signature, and reverse, as they are an important part of the condition description.
【 A Personal Note from the Seller 】
This is an especially appealing piece of early American advertising art because it is not simply a commercial sign—it features a dated 1903 Maud Humphrey illustration in the impressive large yard-long format.
The combination of Humphrey’s recognizable child portraiture, the “Butterfly Time” subject, early Yankee Label Bread advertising, and the surviving printer identification makes this a wonderful piece for collectors of antique advertising, Victorian and Edwardian illustration, bakery memorabilia, or vintage paper ephemera.
Its nearly three-foot horizontal format also gives it excellent display presence when properly framed.
【 Shipping & Handling 】
Because this is a large, antique paper collectible, it will be carefully packaged with appropriate rigid protection to help prevent bending and edge damage during shipment.
Extra care will be taken to protect the corners and printed surface.
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