Antique & Vintage Postcards

Bathed in the heathery purples and warm ochres of a Scottish autumn, a small rowboat carrying two figures drifts across the glassy surface of Loch Vennachar while Ben Ledi rises dramatically behind — a scene evocative of Walter Scott's Lady of the Lake, whose Collantogle Ford once stood at this very loch's foot. Artist Jotter (the pen name visible at lower left) rendered this Trossachs landscape for Raphael Tuck & Sons' celebrated "Oilette" series, printed in England to simulate the texture of an oil painting on linen-finish card stock. The reverse, in deep red on cream, identifies this as Scottish Lochs Postcard No. 3151, printed "By Appointment" to Their Majesties the King and Queen — a Royal Warrant dating the card to the reign of Edward VII (1901–1910). A descriptive panel explains that "Vennachar" means "Lake of the Fair Valley" and notes the bridge that replaced Collantogle Ford.