Otto Soglow's most popular creation by far is the Little King, so one can understand the eagerness of the Etsy seller who listed Soglow's harem-themed scarf to identify the sultan as "The Little King in a turban." Clearly he isn't the Little King. Soglow very deliberately kept his syndicated comic strip character out of the two scarf designs he created for Richard Farrar. This particular design is best viewed as a diamond with the sultan's turban toward the apex. Just tilt your screen.
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar In orange and brown plus black and white |
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar Top corner with O. Soglow's printed signature |
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar Top corner, draped |
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar Left corner |
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar The sultan |
The sale price of the orange and brown scarf is not recorded. The seller writes, "Quirky Art Deco silk scarf is really a vinage [sic] New Yorker cartoon, The Little King…" Out of all that, the words quirky, silk, and scarf are 100% correct.
 |
| Otto Soglow Etsy Listing Sold October 13, 2018
https://www.etsy.com/listing/271815836/quirky-art-deco-silk-scarf-is-really-a?show_sold_out_detail=1
|
 |
| Otto Soglow Etsy Item Description "…The Little King in his turban…" |
There are also four photos of this scarf in the same orange and brown color scheme from an eBay sale archived on Worthpoint:
Another Etsy seller offered a version of this scarf in dark gray and red, plus black and white. The seller dated this scarf incorrectly to the 1930s.
Otto Soglow
Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar
In orange and brown plus black and white
Another Etsy seller offered a version of this scarf in dark gray and red, plus black and white. The seller dated this scarf incorrectly to the 1930s.
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar In dark gray and red plus black and white |
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar Detail of sultan and servants |
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar Inverted orientation |
 |
| O. Soglow's printed signature |
 |
| Otto Soglow Etsy Listing Sold February 1, 2014
https://www.etsy.com/listing/109906035/the-little-king-silk-scarf-by-o-soglow?show_sold_out_detail=1
|
 |
| Otto Soglow Pinterest pin records the $109 Etsy sale price |
An eBay sale archived on Worthpoint shows the inversion of the red and dark gray colors.
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar In red and dark gray plus black and white |
A third Etsy seller offers yet another color combination. This seller also dates the scarf to the 1930s. It is more likely from the 1940s to 1950s. The scarf was offered at $80. The seller currently has no items for sale.
 |
| Otto Soglow Harem scarf design for Richard Farrar The sultan and his servants In red and turquoise plus black, white, and light gray |
 |
| Otto Soglow Closed Etsy listing for $80 |
September 14, 2022 Update: The orange and brown plus black and white harem scarf framed, from the collection of cartoonist Roz Chast, photographed by her and rotated by me.
 |
Photograph by Roz Chast |
Note: A big thank you to Addams aficionado Joel Jacobus for first alerting me to the existence of the two Soglow scarf designs featured on the blog these past two days. There are, no doubt, other color combinations of these as well of the other Richard Farrar scarves designed by New Yorker artists. Readers who come across these rarities in bottom drawers or at estate sales should photograph them and send them in for the sake of posterity. If there were an internet seventy years ago, all these scarves would have been immortalized from day one, but there wasn't so it's up to us to play catchup.
The one Richard Farrar scarf in the series we have yet to find a single example of is the one by the great Helen E. Hokinson. Scour the countryside, readers!
But enough about scarves. Original art by Otto Soglow is always welcome here on the old blog. Rare published cartoons are also sought after.
Otto Soglow
Richard Farrar Scarves
Women's Fashion
The Harem Girls of E. Simms Campbell
Racism in Cartoons
Attempted Bloggery's Index of 1,001 Nights
02840
No comments:
Post a Comment