Skip to content
HDRA-VR-0010 - main 1 / 13

Charlot Byj Cherub Reaching for a Star — Framed Mid-Century Lithograph

$35.00 Only one available

Price in USD. Shipping is $10.95 to the contiguous US — see our Shipping Policy.

Mid-Century (1940s–1960s) Glass, Paper Good
HDRA-VR-0010
A tender framed lithograph by beloved mid-century illustrator Charlot Byj, showing a rosy-cheeked cherub stretched up from a bed of soft clouds, fingertips just brushing a single luminous star. Sweetly sentimental, unmistakably hers — and a long-time favorite among collectors of vintage nursery and cottage-style art. Highlights
  • Signed Charlot Byj in the lower portion of the image
  • Soft pastel palette on a canvas-textured surface, typical of Crestwick-published Byj lithographs
  • Original mid-century flat wood frame with gilt inner edge
  • Wonderfully on-trend for cottagecore, nursery, or sentimental gallery walls
Condition: Background toning and light foxing in the lower portion of the print; frame shows minor wear and surface soiling. Structurally sound, no tears, fully displayable as-is or rehoused in a fresh frame.
Back to Art
Share This Find
Honestly described
Carefully packed
Ships in 2–3 days
$10.95 shipping
Our terms

Charlot Byj Cherub Reaching for a Star — Framed Mid-Century Lithograph

Circa 1950s–1960s

Mid-Century Sentimental Illustration

Charlotte "Charlot" Byj (1920–1983) was one of mid-century America's most prolific commercial illustrators — a New York–based artist whose plump, rosy-cheeked children and cherubs filled greeting cards, gift shops, and nursery walls through the 1950s and 60s. She is perhaps best remembered today for her collaboration with the German porcelain house W. Goebel, where between 1957 and her death in 1983 she designed more than one hundred figurines, but her framed lithographs were a parallel body of work that brought her style into thousands of American homes.

The lithographs were issued by Crestwick (Crestwick-Hummel Werk Sales Inc., New York), a small American publisher that licensed and distributed her devotional and nursery imagery in matching wood frames. This cherub reaching for a star is a textbook example: the soft pastel palette, the textured ground that gives the image a painterly feel, and the simple gilt-lipped frame are all hallmarks of that program. Pieces like this turn up in estates and small-town antique malls across the country — gentle, sentimental, and quietly evocative of the era they were made for.

Materials Lithograph on textured paper or board, signed in the image; mid-century flat wood frame with gilt inner edge; glass glazing.
Care Hang away from direct sunlight and humidity to slow further toning. Dust the frame and glass with a soft dry cloth; avoid liquid cleaners on the print itself. Conservation reframing is optional but rewarding.
From the Research Archives
vintagerose.us Catalog No. HDRA-VR-0010 • April 2026

Specifications

Dimensions
N/A
Weight
1.0 lbs
SKU
HDRA-VR-0010
Few mid-century illustrators are as instantly recognizable as Charlotte "Charlot" Byj (1920–1983). Her plump, rosy-cheeked babies and cherubs filled American greeting cards, gift shops, and nursery walls through the 1950s and 60s, and her later collaboration with the German Goebel porcelain works produced more than a hundred figurine designs. Decades on, her work still has a devoted collector following — equal parts nostalgia and genuine artistry. This framed lithograph is a quiet, lovely example. A round-cheeked cherub leans from a bank of soft clouds, fingertips just grazing a single luminous star — pure Byj sentiment, rendered in her signature muted pastel palette. The print sits on a canvas-textured surface that gives the image a painterly, almost hand-finished quality, a hallmark of the lithographs published by Crestwick (Crestwick-Hummel Werk Sales Inc., New York), the firm responsible for most of her framed devotional and nursery prints in this period. The signature reads clearly in the lower portion of the image. The frame itself is part of the charm: a flat mid-century wood profile with a gilt inner lip, exactly the sort of period-appropriate housing these prints were sold in. It cradles the image without competing with it, and has aged honestly alongside the print. Details
  • Artist: Charlot Byj (1920–1983), signed in the image
  • Likely publisher: Crestwick-Hummel Werk Sales Inc., New York (period-correct for her framed lithographs)
  • Era: circa 1950s–1960s
  • Materials: lithograph on textured paper or board; wood frame with gilt inner edge; glass glazing
  • Subject: cherub reaching for a star
Condition Honest age-appropriate wear. There is background toning and yellowing throughout, with light foxing or spotting visible in the lower portion of the print. The frame shows minor surface soiling and small wear marks but remains structurally intact, and the image itself is free of tears or significant damage. The piece presents beautifully as-is for a collector who values authenticity, and would also reward a fresh frame and conservation mat for anyone wanting to bring the colors forward. A genuinely vintage piece by a name her collectors actively seek out — exactly the kind of soft, soulful find that suits a vintage nursery, a quiet hallway, or a layered cottagecore gallery wall.

Related products