Early 20thc German Paper Mache Egg Candy Container - Children Feeding the Animals

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 am pleased to have collected a number of early 20th century German and French examples over the years and am pleased to offer them in my shop during the next six weeks.

This is a medium size papier mache egg that is perfect for tucking a small Easter treasure inside. It is 5” long x 3 ½” wide. Each side is covered with a related charming scene on a bright red background. The top image is of a little Edwardian girl with her basket feeding the swans. The bottom image is of a young Edwardian boy with his hoop feeding lettuce to the deer. As with most of the paper mache eggs, these designs were cut into strips and hand applied over the cardboard mache base and then glazed. Each half has an unusual embossed white Dresden fleur de lis like trim border. There is a raised inner liner so that the top half of the egg just rests on the bottom half The egg is lined with blue geometric print paper of squares, rectangles and dots used in the early part of the 20th century and not often found. The inside bottom edges are trimmed with pierced white paper lace triangles. The egg is unmarked. There is an attached hanging loop.

The egg is in excellent condition on the outside. The sides fit tightly and the Dresden trim is complete. The inside paper lace trim is also intact but it has toned over the years and there are brown spots on the paper lining. 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 at this time. Thank you for visiting my shop today.