#Moise Alcan

[uwmspeccoll]

Decorative Sunday 

This Sunday we present plates from L’ornament des Tissus: Recueil Historique et Pratique (The Ornament of Fabric: A Historical and Practical Collection), a French portfolio publication of one hundred chromolithographs highlighting textile design through the ages. The portfolio was published in 1877 in Paris by Ducher et Cie, publishers for the Société Centrale des Architectes, with introductory essays and explanatory texts accompanying each plate by Auguste Dupont-Auberville, a successful banker and collector of porcelain and textiles.

Charles Kreutzberger illustrated the textile designs and the lithography was completed by Frédéric Régamey. Text was printed by L'imprimerie Alcan-Lévy, the printing outfit of Félix Alcan. Alcan’s father Moyse Alcan was a publisher in their hometown of Metz, and his grandfather Gerson-Lévy was an educator, publisher, author, and translator, and was one of the earliest advocate of Reform Judaism in France.

See image captions for description of plates. 

You can find more Decorative Sunday posts here. 

-Olivia, Special Collections Graduate Intern