Have You Been Good? As-tu Ete Sage? Brissaud, c1919

by Brissaud, Pierre

Jeanne Lanvin evening dress and child's dress, c1919. Robe du soir et robe d'enfant de Jeanne Lanvin.

Charming fashion narrative with the little girl considering her answer... Hand-coloured pochoir by Pierre Brissaud (1885-1964) for Gazette du Bon Ton (Journal of Good Style), published in Paris in 1919. Brissaud was one of four regular contributors for this exclusive periodical where the finest fashion illustrators of the day portrayed the latest haute couture by prominent French designers.

Gazette de Bon Ton was published by Lucien Vogel in Paris between 1912 and 1925 (with a break during World War I), and distributed by Condé Nast. The portrayal of fashion by the pochoir method was perfected by skilful artists in France, and pochoir, the French word for stencil, has been used worldwide since then to describe them. Pochoir was a labour-intensive process, with a separate stencil cut for each successive application of watercolour to produce the same depth of tone, and nuance of decoration for each illustration.

Size of page 24 x 19cm or 9.5 x 7.5 inches