c1938 – MASKEE – A SHANGHAI SKETCHBOOK by FRIEDRICH H. SCHIFF

Accordian, concerina-style album, measuring about 7 5/8 inches by 10 1/2 inches, bound in red silk covers. 21 plates of hand-coloured cartoons. Copy 239 of an unstated limited edition, Title page signed by the artist. A couple plates exhibit some foxing spots – first two relatively blank pages the worst, and one illustrated below.

Friedrich H. Schiff (1908 -1968): was an Austrian-Jewish artist, arriving in Shanghai in 1930 when he was 22 years old, and lived there until 1947. He was a keen observer of the Chinese spirit, showing fascinating visual insights into life in Shanghai – then a major metropolis. His cartoons captured the foreign community’s interest in the local life, and were published in local newspapers and journals such as the China Journal & the North China Daily News. He illustrated several books on China, a number of Shanghai postcards, and decorated the walls of the well known French “Cercle Sportif” and other clubs. His works depicted some darker sides of life such as prostitutes, taxi-girls and beggars.

the image below shows one of two pages with the most noticeable foxing – on left

SORRY – SOLD – DECEMBER 2022