Item HT 42848 Handkerchief - Girl in Green Bathers, Painted, Silk, circa 1933-1943

Summary

This handkerchief is made from very fine silk and features a female figure in a 1930s-era swimsit. It may have been made in Japan for European/American export or appeared at the Japanese Pavilion of the 1933 Chicago World Fair, where other handkerchiefs from this collection were acquired.

It belonged to Emily Hannah Francis, of Garden City, and was part of a collection of 145 souvenir and commemorative handkerchiefs put together by Emily, sent to her by pen friends from around the world, up to her death in 1943.

Physical Description

Fine ivory silk handkerchief with red machine-stitched edging. Hand-painted figure of a female diver in a green one-piece swimming suit and red-and-white spotted headscarf, standing with arms above her head preparing to dive from a board. Artist's signature next to illustrated figure.