Stevengraph picture - st392 - Landing of Columbus

by Austin Sprake:
Title woven in and usually also printed on mount, sometimes with the same Chicago Exposition identification as STG145.

by Geoffrey Godden:
This landscape view is the pair to COLUMBUS LEAVING SPAIN (st84 on this site). The title LANDING OF COLUMBUS, OCT 12 1492 is woven in the bottom of the picture near the left-hand edge. The pair were probably first issued at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition of 1893, and the early examples bear the printed credit stating that they were woven at this Exhibition. The version of this credit shown below (as image st392a) is the normal one, but a printed credit matching that shown in the image st392b below occurs very rarely (that is, the one with the Stevens credit).
The title was first listed on label 29+38 issued early in 1893, and most examples are mounted on type C card-mounts. Specimens made after 1893 do not have the Chicago Exhibition credit, and some later examples are found with type E mounts.

Other comments:
The first image below (st392a) is of the version recorded by both Austin Sprake and Geoffrey Godden, and has the title "Landing of Columbus October 12th, 1492" recorded on the card-mount as well as the silk. In small letter beneath the silk is also recorded "Woven in pure silk at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893".

The image above has these latter words in larger print on the card-mount, and no "Landing of Columbus" title other than on the silk.

image st392a: Title words printed on card mount as well as woven on silk, and
"World's Columbian Exposition" words printed on card mount immediately below the silk.

same picture of Columbus raising national standard on beach, with his crew enjoying firm land beneath their feet, but with different words printed on the card mount

Printed at bottom of card-mount:-
WOVEN IN PURE SILK AT THE WORLD'S COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, CHICAGO, 1893

LANDING OF COLUMBUS

OCTOBER 12th, 1492.

image st392b: No title words printed on card mount, only on silk, and
"World's Columbian Exposition" words printed on card mount some way below silk, but also includes credit to STEVENS.

Printed at bottom of card-mount:-
WOVEN IN PURE SILK
AT THE
COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION, CHICAGO 1893
BY THE
STEVENGRAPH WORKS, COVENTRY, ENG.

It would seem that visitors to the Exposition were able to buy un-mounted copies of the picture silk, and have them attached with metal pins to stiff backing paper as if they were bookmarks. Below is an image of one such " loose " silk picture.
The backing paper measures: 7.5cm deep by 32.0cm wide; whilst the actual woven silk measures: 6.4cm high by 19.4cm wide. Of particular interest though is the wording printed on that backing paper:

SOUVENIR
Woven at the
World's Columbian
EXPOSITION
1893
BY THOMAS STEVENS
Coventry, Eng.
INVENTOR AND MANUFACTURER OF
Pure Silk Woven Book Marks

Image of the Landing of Columbus woven silk

Image of the Landing of Columbus woven silk

" loose " woven silk picture attached to stiff backing paper as if it were a bookmark.

Reference Number:-	Sprake Number:-	Godden Number:-
st 392	STG146	39

LANDING of COLUMBUS, Oct 12 1492

(woven at the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893)