Pochoir Fashion print by Robert Pichenot, Paris 1913

This is fashion plate no 49 from a collection of 186 Costumes Parisien fashion plates created for the Journal des Dames et des Modes by leading commercial artists of the day. It is printed in the pochoir printing process in which up to thirty colour screens or stencils are used to insert colours into the delicate linear designs of the copper plate engravings.

The picture presents a “charming white dress with a mousseline tunic in violet silk, embroidered in green and edged in fur. A coat of Etruscan velvet”. The series of plates illustrate the shift from corset structures towards a more cylindrical dress form that eventually led to the loose “flapper” dress style of the 1920s.

The colours are still vivid. The paper has very slight foxing which does not affect the image. The print is in its original ebonised and fluted frame.

Designed for lovers of rare editions, the Journal aimed to appeal to an audience of connoisseurs and aesthetes and to be a reflection of the intellectual and cultural atmosphere of Paris, and a record of Parisien culture and fashion at the time. The edition was limited to 1,250 copies on quality hand-made Holland paper. The Journal des Dames et Des Modes lasted only two years. The first issue appeared on 1 June 1912, the last on 1 August 1914 due to the outbreak of World War I.