São Paulo – Old matchboxes from Egypt are featured in an exhibition that opened last week at the Cultural Center in Forquilhinha, in the southern portion of the state of Santa Catarina.
The pieces are from the collection of Museu ao Ar Livre Princesa Isabel (the Princess Isabel Open-Air Museum), in Orleans, Santa Catarina. They were donated by the family of now-deceased merchant José Dalsasso, who was a collector. There are 1,348 boxes, from Brazil and other countries, with different types of illustrations. About ten of them are from Egypt.
The merchant’s daughter Rose Dalsasso explains that the Egyptian matchboxes were the first ones in her father’s collection. He got them from a nephew who went to the Arab country on a business trip in the 1950s. “He’d keep them under lock and key like a treasure,” says Rose.
The merchant collected all sorts of items, including coins and bills. According to Rose, he’d collect anything he found beautiful or artful. Some of the matchbox were bought and others were gifts from friends who knew about his passion.
The matchbox prints include illustrations by Brazilian cartoonist Ziraldo, special editions featuring Brazilian national soccer team players, adverts of tourist spots, hotels, airlines, cigarettes, and pictures of nature. The ten or so boxes from Egypt feature depictions of horses, carriages, old cars, boats and sports scenes.
The collector died in 1985. After that, his now-deceased son Paulo Afonso cared for the collection. The family donated it to Museu ao Ar Livre Princesa Isabel in 1999.
The exhibit in Forquilhinha also features matchboxes from another collection, portraying the 1962 FIFA World Cup, donated to the museum by Cícero Augusto Vieira of São Paulo.
The showing began on August 29 and will run until September 29. Opening hours are from 8am to 12pm and from 1pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday. Admission is free.
Quick facts
Matchbox exhibition
August 29 to September 29, 2017
8 am to 12pm – 1pm to 5pm
Free admission
Centro Cultural Forquilhinha – Forquilhinha – SC
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/culturaforquilhinha/
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum