Postcard, silk embroidered postcard

Silk embroidered postcard sent by a soldier serving on the front line in Belgium to his sister in the UK. The postcard has a blind-embossed border framing a central panel of organdie, silk embroidered with pink flowers and a large central butterfly bearing the British and Belgian flags on its wings and the lettering embroidered in blue silk 'Souvenir from Belgium'. The organdie panel includes a flap, similar to that of an envelope that opens to reveal a pocket.
On the reverse of the postcard is the handwritten message 'To my dear sister from your loving brother Will'.

During World War I, the sending of silk-embroidered postcards became a standard form of greeting from soldiers serving in the trenches to loved ones at home. The cards were produced in France by a number of publishers with the silk embroidery added by hand on a cottage-industry basis, the designs being worked over lightly printed guidelines. The beauty of the cards masked the true horror of the conditions under which the soldiers were living and fighting.