Pro Zdravé Zuby - Solo Lipnik (1968)

Year: 1968

Format: Matchbox label

Illustrator: Věra Sůrová (b. 1929)

Client: Solo Lipnik

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Details: This 1968 matchbox label was produced by Solo Lipník, a match manufacturer in Czechoslovakia. The message reads “Pro zdravé zuby”, which translates as “For Healthy Teeth”.

While the artwork on Czech matchbox labels is often anonymous, this example is signed by Věra Sůrová (b. 1929). The Czech bibliographic database ‘Databáze knih’ identifies Sůrová as a book cover designer and credits her with creating covers for numerous Czech books during the 1960s and 1970s. Examples of her work also appear in the 1979 edition of ‘Modern Publicity’.

Sůrová frequently collaborated with her husband, the graphic artist Jaroslav Sůra (1929-2011). A biography of Sůra on ‘Galerie Knížecí Dvůr’ notes that many of his works were co-authored by his wife, graphic designer Věra Sůrová-Humlhansová.

Further evidence of her contributions appear on ‘Encyklopedie Prahy 2’, which states that she was her husband's collaborator and source of inspiration, as well as often developing the concepts behind his work. The same source notes that Věra Sůrová is sometimes credited as a co-author of works attributed to Jaroslav Sůra.