Album d'Ouvrage Fantasie des Modes de la Saison.; Composé de Vingt-Quatre Planches en Taille-Douce. Coloriees à l'Aquarelle et de Deux Dessins Gravés sur Bois. Répresentant Environ Deux Cents Objets Différents Accompagnés de Descriptions Détailées. Marqueterie de Paille et de Bois. Peinture sur Bois et sur Verre. Tapisserie. Application Orientale etc. etc.

Paris: Librairie de la Famille. Cloth Folio. Good. Scarce album of home furnishings decor and decorative arts, capturing varied, mostly ornate, styles in vogue at time. No copies found on OCLC, nor is this in the BNF catalogue. N.d., circa 1880. Folio, 39 by 28 cm. Title, blank, 2 pp. -- table of contents, 26 color plates, each with a separate leaf of description. (Descriptions can be one or two pages -- if one page, the verso is blank.) Furnishings shown are overwhelmingly of the type one would have found in the homes of the upper middle class. Some of the specimens might well have also furnished more august residences; in our view, this is a reflection (truncated) of a congruence of taste and accessibility across class lines. Most of the plates have a dozen discrete specimens; this somehow seems in line with the eclecticism and overstuffed look that was so rampant then. Whether the pieces shown are one's own taste, one can not but be impressed with the strong, rich color embellishing the objects. The symmetrical artful randomness of the object placement is in keeping with the ornament books which were so influential during the mid-19th century -- Owen Jones, Racinet, and the like. Condition: pages heavily age toned. Some minor edge chips and bumps. Cover has small corner stamped. Soiling around front board edge. Spine has one inch tear on both upper joints. (Inventory #: 005961)