Vain Collection

Blue Dress / Beer 1922
Blue dress by Beer: low neckline, open to the hips at the side & worn over a grey slip. Bodice & low waistband decorated in a feather motif plus a bandeau & earrings

The Two Young Girls - The Beautiful Rosine by Antoine Wiertz
Reproduction of the painting The Two Young Girls or The Beautiful Rosine by Antoine Wiertz (1806-1865). A pretty girl confronts her stark (and dead)

Fall / Poodle & Mirror
CHAMPION NUNSOE THE FLORIN Owned by Miss Lane. A white dog with a poodle cut looks at its reflection in a mirror. 1936

Fable / Fox & Grapes
THE FOX AND THE GRAPES The fox spies juicy ripe grapes and tries to reach them but in vain; eventually he gives up, proclaiming the grapes to be probably sour

Photomontage of women in feathered hats. Captioned, Fine Feathers Making Fine Birds: The Plumes Of Perfection, ?? and ??of Gorgeous Plumage Justly Vain: Wearers Of All Feather Hats??. Date: 1911

AMERICAN WAR LOAN POSTER
This American poster exhorts citizens to Buy more liberty bonds with the heartrending slogan Must children die and mothers plead in vain? Date: circa 1917

BATTLE OF SAINT-CLOUD (outskirts of Paris) - the French forces defending Paris, hoping in vain for Napoleon to arrive, fight desperately to keep the Allies out of Paris Date: March 1814

SIEGE OF SARAGOSSA Agostina, the Maid of Saragossa rallies her fellow- citizens to resist the French, but in vain, the city is taken 21 February 1809 Date: Dec 1808 - Feb 1809

EVIL-DOERS PUNISHED
A man who took the name of God in vain, and another who violated the Sabbath by plucking a few straws in the fields, are stoned to death - such is God's Law !

A French barber puts his male client's hair into curling papers Date: 1840

Spirits seek to waken travellers sleeping at sea
Spirits of the dead seek to waken travellers sleeping at sea - but the sleepers sleep on, and the spirits wail in vain, forgotten

AESOP/BLACKAMOOR
THE BLACKAMOOR Thinking his dark skin is only dirt, they seek to scrub him white, but in vain, the blackamoor remains black, catches cold and dies

When Love was Lost and Life was Vain: Pierrot Forlorn. In the Autumn of Youth: " Fallen Leaves". Date: 1912

Evangeline is an epic poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow published in 1847 which describes the separation of Evangeline and her beloved Gabriel during the expulsion of the Acadian community from Nova

Woman in an oversized hat on a comic greetings card with verse. Date: circa 1870s

Vain woman at a mirror on a comic greetings card with verse. Date: circa 1870s

AMERICAN GIRL FRENCH HAT
An American girl tries on a selection of fashionable, broad brimmed hats trimmed with ostrich plumes in a Paris Milliners. Date: 1909

GHOST OF PATROCLUS
Achilles tries - in vain - to seize hold of the ghost of Patroclus Date: BC

Religious differences, Atheism and Christianity
Atheists seek to pull down the Holy Cross, but in vain, for the True Christian, encouraged by divine beings, holds it up while his good lady instructs the young in the True Way Date: circa 1790s

WW1 - French soldiers firing (in vain) toward a German Taube
WW1 - French soldiers firing (in vain) toward a German Rumbler Taube Aircraft flying over their position on a reconnaisance mission. Date: 1914

Vain man at a mirror on a comic greetings card, with verse. Date: circa 1850s

Aesop / Blackamoor
Aesop/Blackamoor

Odysseus Attacks Suitors
Odysseus shoots the first arrow at the suitors who have tried in vain to woo Penelope while he has been away

Willem van Heythuysen (1585-1650), by Frans Hals (1580-1666)
Frans Hals (1580-1666). Dutch painter. Portrait of Willem van Heythuysen (1585-1650). 1625-1630. Alte Pinakothek. Munich. Germany

Children playing in a nursery
A large group of children play at a table in a nursery. One vain little girl, standing near the door, is in her finery. Date: 1859

Husband Leaving 19C
A distraught wife tries in vain to prevent her husband from leaving for good Date: late 19th century

Vain man looking in a mirror, c. 1770
Vain and fashionable gentleman staring into a looking-glass, c.1770 Date: C.1770

Lady Lilith by D G Rossetti (1828-1882), engraved by Theodor Knesing (1840-?). Date: 1884

Illustration, Snowdrop -- Mirror, Mirror on the wall, Who is fairest of us all? Date: 1909

Illustration from Paris Plaisirs number 120, July 1932
Illustration Vain Espoir from Paris Plaisirs number 120, July 1932 Date: 1932

Business card design, man with mirror
Business card design, depicting a man admiring his appearance in a full-length mirror. Date: 20th century

Vendee Rising
Carrier suppresses the counter-revolution in the Vendee (Bretagne) with ruthless rigour : royalists beg for mercy, but in vain. Date: 1793

Sofya and Supporters
Sofya, Peters half-sister and regent during his youth, finds herself marginalised when she tries to seize power : she appeals to her supporters for help, but in vain. Date: 1688

Duc De Nemours
LOUIS CHARLES PHILIPPE RAPHAEL d ORLEANS, duc de NEMOURS second son of Louis Philippe, military in Algeria : in exile in England 1848 - 1871, sought in vain to reconcile royalists Date: 1814 - 1896

Appeals are in vain. Plate 54 of The Disasters of War
GOYA Y LUCIENTES, Francisco de (1746-1828). Appeals are in vain. Plate 54 of The Disasters of War. Etching

Are our teachings, then, in vain?. Illustration shows Confucius and Jesus Christ standing together on a cloud atop a mountain looking down at the confrontation between the Boxers

Must children die and mothers plead in vain? Buy more Liberty Bonds. Poster showing a mother clutching children as she reaches out for help. Date 1918

Two men on a bridge
Two fops on a bridge in Stockholm, Scene from Swedish every day life 1850s

Revelations on Honeymoon
Revelations - 1st Chapter A hilarious postcard showing a couple on their honeymoon, revealing to each other (for seemingly yht efirst time!) their physical shortcomings

Remarkable results from Edwards Harlene for hair, 1892
A lady admires her reflection in a hand mirror. Her luxuriant hair is thanks to Edwards Harlene for hair: " positively the best hair dressing for strengthening

Lady and Mirror by George Ranstead
A rather arrogant lady, wearing a fashionable ensemble, gazing at her reflection in a large oval mirror, except, spookily, no reflection appears to be forthcoming

Male Corset / 1910
An elderly gentleman, desperate to regain the figure of his youth, has his valet lace him into a corset. Date: 1910

Emperors New Clothes - Princess and the Pea
Illustrations of two well-known Fairy Tales: The Emperors New Clothes (left) and The Princess and the Pea (right)

Cassandra Warns in Vain
Cassandra warns the Trojans that the Greek horse will do them no good at all, but they do not heed her warnings - they never do !

Wittekind Opposes
Wittekind, king of the Saxons, urges his people to oppose Charlemagne, but their efforts are in vain and eventually they have to submit to him as Emperor

American Girl French Hat
An American girl tries on a selection of fashionable, broad brimmed hats trimmed with ostrich plumes in a Paris Milliners

Jeanne D arc at Paris
Jeanne besieges Paris, but in vain - could it be that the saints have deserted her ?

Military Checkpoint 1920
A British military checkpoint which was set up (in vain) to control disorder in the province

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