The clue here was that Pears Soap used a very famous painting called "Bubbles" to sell their products. Of course in that picture the boy is blowing soap bubbles, not gum ones.
It was not originally called "Bubbles" - the title was "A Child`s World" - and it was painted in 1886, by Sir John Everett Millais.
The bookmark mentions the late Sir Erasmus Wilson. He was an English surgeon and dermatologist, with the full name of William James Erasmus Wilson FRCS FRS. Now he was born in November 1809 and died in August 1884, so these bookmarks may be earlier than we think. It seems a but long after the event to still be referring to someone as "late", however famous they were.
Pears were very prolific with advertising cards, and there are several bookmarks like this one, maybe more. Their first issue was a set of four, issued as a strip, to be separated for use, and today they are most often found as singles. Those, like ours, show a hand coming through a ribbon, and the top of the strip which bound them together actually said "Soft White Hands".
All five are described in our original British Trade Index part III, though on the strip of four they were in a slightly different order than that described, hence the additional wording in bold:
Advertisement Book-Marks (A). Shaped, about 185 x 33
1. Series of four, issued joined together attached to panel inscribed "These Bookmarks can be separated for use":
1."Matchless for the Complexion", back with testimonial by the late Sir Erasmus Wilson. [far right of the strip, a male hand, holding a fountain pen which is signing the words, with some blotting, on paper. The bookmark ends in a red wax seal.]
2."Ensures a skin like Ivory", back with testimonial by Adelina Patti. [inside right of the strip, a gloved hand, holding a feather and ivory fan on which the words are inscribed. The bookmark ends in the feathers]
3. "Purity Itself", back "20 Highest Possible Awards from 1851 down to 1890". [far left of the strip, a female hand, pointing at the words on a silk strip. The bookmark ends in a large gilt metal seal.]
4. "Pears Soap", back with testimonial by Mr. John L. Milton. [inside left of the strip, a female hand, pointing along a green silk ribbon with strings of pearls. The bookmark ends in a grey embroidered circle.]2. Single bookmark, without evidence of joining to others. Front "20 Highest Awards 1851 to 1890", back with testimonial by the late Sir Erasmus Wilson.