First acquisition in 2017

20 janvier 2017

Our first buy this year is a heavy object, literally. It is a printing block consisting of a thick lead plaque, shaped and engraved, nailed on a firm wooden board. It has been used to print paper tobacco bags. This printing block is unusual in its size, over 16 cm high. It is meant for printing a large size package of finely cut Frisian ‘baay-tobacco’. The image is the famous tobacco brand of the white bear in oval framing. The plate doesn’t include the name of the shop or tobacco cutter, that would have been printed separately on the back. The white bear appears as a tobacco brand in the eighteenth century, but this printing block dates from the first half nineteenth century in Leeuwarden. This item is a welcome addition to a set of printing plates for tobacco wrappers in our museum.

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