Artist: Alphonse Mucha Czech (1860-1939)
Title: Slavia
Plate:
Original Insurance certificate,
with original case and original policy
Printed Paris, 1935
Reference: Rennert/Weill, 93; Lendl/Prague, p. 265;
Presented in 16 x 20 in. acid free, archival museum mat, with framing labels. Ready to frame. Shipped boxed flat.
Certificate of Authenticity.
Size: 11 3/4 in x 16 1/2 in 29.8 cm x 42 cm
Price: $1750.00
Just Sold for $4000 US Poster Auctions International, NY. March 26 2023
"Slavia," the personification of the Slavic people, was also the name chosen for this bank and insurance company founded in Prague in 1869.
"Reissuing Mucha's 1907 design in cool sepia tones, this is an official life insurance document. The woman in the image is Slavia, the personification of the Slavic people of Eastern Europe, much in the way Uncle Sam is to the United States. She “holds a ring in her hand which symbolizes unity... and there are two stylized peace doves on the arm rests of the hidden throne she is sitting on; but just in case, she also has a sword in her lap, the message being that the Slav is peaceful by nature but will fight when attacked" . This includes the insurance policy attached on the verso." (Rennert)
This design is believed to be based on Mucha's portrait of Josephine Crane Bradley, the daughter of his friend and patron Charles R. Crane.
To mark the marriage of his daughter Josephine to Harold C. Bradley, Charles Richard Crane commissioned Mucha to paint a portrait of Josephine as the Slav goddess, Slavia. The portrait was to be incorporated into the interior decoration of a new house that Crane was building for the newlyweds.
Ten years later, when Mucha was commissioned to design banknotes for the newly founded Czechoslovakia, he used this portrait as the main motif on the 100 crown note.