A New Line in Artcraft for Interior Decoration. For Your Home. Ludwig Rutz, Oberammergau, Bavaria

Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany: Ludwig Rutz, 1910. Wraps (Folded sheet). Concertina mounted onto wraps. Near Fine. Unusual catalogue, set up as a concertina, mainly for large ship models -- completed ship models, to be displayed like scupture, and the "models" are already built -- no assembly required. N.d., circa 1910. 12mo. 16.5 by12.5 cm. The concertina,about 84 cm wide when fully extended, is two-sided and has fourteen panels, the first panel attached to the wraps and having only text, the "Introduction", with the remaining 13 panels basically photographic plates. Eleven of these panels or plates present a single ship model, with one of these being also a chandelier. The last two panels are devoted to a knights-in-armor, two in each of the panels. All of the models, whether ships or knights, have in common a historic dimension. The ships might be based on specific ships, such as Columbus' Santa Maria, but mostly they are more general types of ships such as a 16th Century English warship. The models range in size but most would say overall they are quite large. The ships might be a mere 15 by 15 inches, or 38 by 38 cm, but they can be as tall as 47 inches, or about 120 cm, and as long as 55 inches, or about 140 cm. The knights are more of a standard size for figurines, which is 15 inches tall, or 38 cm tall. The catalogue was created for the American market, with an accompanying folded sheet, issued loose, with a printed letter by Ludwig Ruiz on one side, a price list covering 17 different items on the flip side, with prices given in dollars. The most expensive item, a Hanseatic merchant vessel from the 16th to 17th century, was priced at $142. In today's dollars, that would easily be the equivalent of around $3,500, and probably more than that. Curiously, these are decorative antiques one seldom comes upon nowadays. Unquestionably the demand for historical models of this sort and for armorial antiques has greatly receded, and we suspect was losing ground come the Depression. Not only would these models be of a size not compatible with many a house or apartment, but the passion for historicism of this kind in the decorative arts was scoffed at as new styles such as Art Deco and more streamlined modernism crowded it out. We have not been able to find out a great deal about Ludwig Rutz as yet. It would appear he was also a publisher who published copies of the Passion Play, for which the city is most famous. This is a scarce catalogue -- not only could we find no other copies of it on OCLC First Search, but also we would maintain it is a scarce type of catalogue. Light wear and age toning. Short closed tear by wrap fold. One or two stains.