There's no business like show business

[Erotica]. 13 erotic watercolours.

€ 9,500.00

Curious collection of obscene watercolours, apparently a product of the Austrian Biedermeier period. Three drawings poke fun at the then-famous vaudevillian athlete, juggler and balance artiste Rappo (the Innsbruck-born Karl von Rapp, 1800-53), giving quite a new meaning to the term "show business". Others employ the setting of a trade fair, depicting the city harlots preparing for work and travelling salesmen in pursuit of lewd entertainment. While nearly all drawings are accompanied by tongue-in-cheek couplets, one has no caption, and another is simply entitled "table-tipping" (not the séance kind). In the circus drawings, Rappo's name was first obscured as "R. Appo" and then - rather crudely - changed to the familiar spelling.

A fine, well-preserved collection, apparently a substantial part of a formerly larger set.