Hand-coloured, plate-signed pochoir from Falbalas & Fanfreluches Almanac (1924) from Barbier's series "The Seven Deadly Sins". A poignant scene of fervent wants and wishes, "Avarice" is shown as a triangle of miss-matched desire, a melodrama constructed around an elegant boa-hemmed evening dress and the classic fur-trimmed embroidered Poiret cape, fashion statements so very de rigeur for the day. Almost Shakespearian in the narrative, the yearning for True Love escapes all parties despite the symbolic entwined trellises, nature's show of unity. +++++++ This famous series of illustrated almanacs was produced from 1922 to 1926 only and depicted high-society life in the fashion, social and artistic capital of the early inter-war years in Paris. Each issue contained a small diary and notation section, an introduction by one of the leading social/cultural doyens of the day, a decorative cover and twelve fashion plates (one for each month of the year), hand-coloured via stencil and watercolour/gouache. Further Ref.: "Art Deco Costumes By George Barbier" (Introduction by Madeleine Ginsburg, Curator, V&A Museum, London). ++++++ Approx.image size: h. 6.25in X w. 4.125in; h. 15.9cm X w. 10.5cm; Overall: h. 9.75in X w. 6.375in; h. 24.8cm X w. 16.2cm |