1930 Electrotype plate “Golden Gate Bridge”

found this while cleaning up a property set to be demolished in san francisco.Respectivly i am trying to find a proper home for this piece-it is currently on ebay.
1930 electrotype copperplate one of a kind used to print a holiday post card for a business that was the 1st of its kind owned by one of the inventors of the trade who’s son was president of the organization formed to plan and build what the scene on the card depicts 3 years before they broke ground which is now one of the most popular landmarks in history. the plate is 4”x6” it reads: HOLIDAY-GREETINGS 1930 1931 FILMER BROTHERS ELECTROTYPE CO. the scene is a bridge with a steamship passing below, full span with detail of the headlands beyond.the bottom right reads:THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE SAN FRANCISCO CALIFORNIA. William P. Filmer cut the ceremonial chain on opening day in 1937 followed by speech alongside the mayor .
my phone number is 6504387395

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my e-mail address is [email protected]

my e-mail address is [email protected]

That isn’t a printing plate, and I doubt it be used as an embossing plate if it is lead-backed. It is probably a decorative plaque,and multiples could have been sent to top customers as a greeting. Electrotyping in the printing trade is a duplicating process, sometimes for one-of-a-kind plates but more often for multiples.
The Filmers stayed in the trade even when electrotyping became a shrinking market, with the Filmer Brothers bindery and as the final owners of the respected SF printing firm Taylor & Taylor.

I would second Parallel’s idea about the piece being a gift to potential or current custoimers. Unless the image has been reversed, it is right-reading and would not have been an image-carrying plate for printing. More than likely it was conceived as a paperweight for customers.

It would be an impressive example of the art of the electrotyper.

John Henry
Cedar Creek Press