“Paolo De Barbieri – Genova / Fece nell’anno 1930”

These labels were used by violin maker Paolo De Barbieri (1889–1964) of Genova over the course of several decades, and probably throughout his whole career. The label design uses Radium, a typeface issued by Ludwig & Mayer around 1905. Local foundry Fausto Gallico offered it under the name Serie Egeria. The date of manufacture as well as the signature was added by hand. This post shows three labels from the violins sold through Tarisio Auctions, made in 1916, 1930, and 1959.

Additionally, I included my digital replica of the label using Radium FG, a digital interpretation of Radium.

“Copia Guarneri del Gesù / Paolo De Barbieri – Genova / Fece nell’anno 1916”

“Paolo De Barbieri – Genova / Fece nell’anno 1959”

Here is my digital replica of the label, created using Radium FG. This interpretation is interesting and exhibits significant differences from the original.

Radium mager and fett on the case of a pack of playing cards, advertising the Revue brand of cigarettes by Sulima.

According to Cigabox.de, Tabak- und Cigarettenfabrik Sulima F.L. Wolff GmbH was established in Dresden, Germany, in 1871. It was acquired by Jasmatzi AG before 1914, which in turn was taken over by Reemtsma in 1925. Sulima was still doing business under that name in 1924.

The secondary typefaces, a compressed grotesk and a Romanisch-like roman, are shown with too little detail to identify them reliably.

See also this invoice from 1924 for another example of both weights of Radium used together.

The cards were produced by a division of the Vereinigte Stralsunder Spielkarten-Fabriken Act.-Ges. in Altenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt.

This week’s invoice concludes the mini set within the bigger series. It’s the third one that shows a Jugendstil typeface from the first years of the 20th century used in the 1920s. Following Mars and Langschrift, this time we get to see Radium.

The angular sans serif with flared stem endings was designed in-house at Ludwig & Mayer and first cast in 1904. It’s not to be confused with the negative face of the same name issued by Schelter & Giesecke a year later. “Radium” was all the rage after Marie and Pierre Curie were awarded the Nobel Prize in 1903, following their discovery of the chemical element in 1898. When the Art Nouveau look came back in fashion in the 1960s, Ludwig & Mayer issued a reworked version. By then, radium didn’t have the same upbeat ring to it anymore, so the revival was renamed to Charleston.

The invoice from J.W. Raab junior’s factory for wine and spirit vinegars shows both weights of Radium. The character set does include numerals, but for some reason, they were not used here. Maybe the printer hadn’t purchased the sorts?

Among the secondary choices, there is De Vinne Italic (“Nürnberg”, “feinst prima”), which was available in Germany from numerous foundries and under various names, including Romanisch-Kursiv halbfett (A.-G. f. Schriftgießerei, Ludwig & Mayer, Stempel), Elzevir-Kursiv halbfett (Berthold, Bauer), or Antike Kursiv halbfett (Genzsch & Heyse); and an unidentified face that appears to be a version of Bookman Italic. The rubberstamp combines a Ronde and an Italienne.

Detail