Gwendolene Millot, the unknown beauty

The thrift did me well again today, my second favourite find of the day was a fantastic index card box from the 1950s- it's black card, with a full set of slate blue alphabetised separator cards on really thick board, almost like plastic. I can't show you a picture, but I can show you a picture of my total favourite score of the day.



Isn't she beautiful? The reverse says (in lovely cursive handwriting) '1937, 17 yrs, Gwendoline Mary Millot'.

The photo is quite big, about the size of a magazine, on stiff board. The edges are rough, making me think she was cut down from an even bigger image. She was tucked inside a 1930s plaster picture frame, between liner papers. I knew there had to be a photo in there because there were so many layers of paper. So I took a gamble, and it paid off.

The frame cost me $2, which usually I'd frown at, especially as the cream finish had been sprayed gold. I find alot of them like this, why!? Was there some big thing in the 60s or 70s with spraying deco stuff gold? I think there must have been- there's no shortage of Victorian stuff in the museum here that's been painted brown. We have a lovely walnut veneer piano that's been painted brown, a cedar writing desk, a gypsy table and believe it or not, a gramophone, who's polished brass trumpet was given a splash of mission brown.