1930’s 5” German Paper Mache Egg with Rabbit Silhouettes

From the latter part of the 19th century, Germany factories mass-produced and distributed cardboard and papier mache candy containers of all shapes and sizes for holiday celebrations. Molded in shapes appropriate to the holiday, the lithographed vessels usually featured illustrations depicting nursery rhymes and holiday symbols edged with embossed Dresden trim. Before the Easter holiday, egg shaped candy containers were sold by the dozens. I have been fortunate to have collected a number of 20th century German examples over the years and am pleased to offer them in my shop during the next few weeks.

This medium size egg is 5” tall by 3 ¼” wide. As with most of the paper mache eggs, this one is made of hand applied strips of litho print paper covering a cardboard paper mache base. There is a raised inner liner so that the top half of the egg just rests on the bottom half. What makes this egg special is its litho print paper. The background is a pale green but it has a design unlike any I’ve seen before. The print includes red florals and tiny black and white silhouette rabbits and chicks. The outside edges of the egg are bordered with a blue paper stripe trim. The inside of the egg is lined with a blue floral paper and embossed paper lace triangles trim the rim of the bottom half of the egg. The egg is stamped Germany inside and has a hanging loop.


The egg is in good condition with tightly fitting sides. It is missing two ¼” sections of blue trim on the outside, and several embossed paper lace triangles on the inside. There is a price tag size section of paper loss on the outside of the egg. Despite these signs of age, this egg will display beautifully whether hanging from a tree or in a basket underneath. Please examine the photos and feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

While you are here, do enjoy the other eggs I have available for sale at this time. Thank you for visiting my shop today.