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19th century boulangerie - French window signs and paintings

Hand Lettering topics: Sign Making, Design, Fabrication, Letterheads, Sign Books.

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BruceJackson
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19th century boulangerie - French window signs and paintings

Post by BruceJackson »

I've been doing some research into this interesting era of signs.

The late 19th and early 20th century in France resulted in some really beautiful work, especially on the boulangeries and patisseries (bakeries and cake shops) in and around Paris.

During the time, the merchants were doing well and wanted more impressive shopfronts. Displaying bread in a window isn't much good for the produce, so they had windows painted with pictures and gilded decorations and lettering.

There are a good number of surviving examples. Pictures are typically painted on canvas and then glued onto the back of the glass. They are often rural scenes of sowing and harvesting. There's also paintings of sheaves of wheat, and various related imagery.

I note with considerable interest the transom signs which are glass with letters. Sometimes they are gilded or painted. On some they appear to be manufactured letters that are glued onto the back of the glass. I'm fascinated by the techniques used as it's hard to tell exactly how they're done from pictures , but also the sheer size of the glass, given the ae of these pieces. I'd love to see one first hand.

Several studios were doing this work, the best known being Benoist et Fils, which ran for three generations, eventually finishing in the 1930's after the grand era was long over and people were looking for a different design aesthetic.

I bought a book recently; Boulangerie by Paul Rambali with some great photos of the shopfronts.

There's also a very good website at http://www.ruavista.com/

http://www.ruavista.com/bakeries.htm

Image
Danny Baronian
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Post by Danny Baronian »

Bruce,

nice post and an interesting link.

Another book along similar lines is Designage - The Art of the Decorative Sign by Arnold Schwartzman. If you don't already own the book, it's definitely one to add to your collection.

The Paris shop you posted are similar to these, also in Paris:

Image


I have also appreciated and wondered how many of the transoms were done, especially the manufactured letters applied to the back of the glass like this:

Image

Do you have any idea what they were made of? I would assume most have been carved from wood, though I've seen some that might have been stamped from brass.

Today with CNC routers, this type of job is fairly easy. On pictorials, you state they were often painted on canvas and glued to the glass, any idea what was used, and how well they held up?

Keep us posted.

Danny
Danny Baronian
Baronian Mfg.
CNC Routing & Fabrication
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Rick Chavez
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Post by Rick Chavez »

I have a few books that have that era and type of signs:

Entrez: Signs of France...having the most

For good reference:

French Modern
Alphabets and Other Signs
ABZ
Design Connoissuer
Typology

The company I worked at designed most of the signs at Paris Las Vegas, the reference book was really cool, to bad they put it away in storage, someone went to Paris just to take pictures of signage and architectural references.
BruceJackson
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Post by BruceJackson »

Thanks for those references Danny and Rick. I've just ordered both books, designage and entrez.

Danny, I haven't been able to find out exactly what techniques were used as the references I've read haven't been written by knowledgable practitioners and the descriptions are a bit incomplete.

It seems many of the glass panels were painted directly in reverse, but also painting on canvas was a common practice, the canvas later glued to the glass (gum was indicated in one source, although varnish or gold size seems likely to me).

Some early work for pub mirrors was done here in Australia using similar methods. Pictures were painted in oils onto gum paper. The painting was later glued to the glass in reverse with varnish and the gum paper soaked off the back.

Some Benoist painted glass panels seem to be installed on cielings too held within an iron grid. (Rambali, p.90)

There were several workshops producing this type of work but the best known is the dynastic company Benoist et fils, founded in 1959 by Maximilien-Louis Benoist from Brussels. Maximilien’s son, Theophile and later his grandson George-Louis were all skilled artists who continued with the workshop.

The works produced were a team effort, as shown in a 1910 photo featuring Eugène Achard (letterer), Gaston Duquesne (flower painter), Mme Dourlens (gilder), Albert Raybaud (decorator), Tabourin (landscape artist), Jean-Jean (installer), Soleil (worker) and Marcel Achard (apprentice).

Other ateliers were Thivet workshop founded in 1854, the Anselm workshop and the Raybaud workshop, who must have struck out on his own later, as he was a key person at Benoist, responsible for overall designs as well as being a painter.

MAny of the surviving panels have been preserved by the "Museum of Arts and Traditions". There are a couple of photos online

http://www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/inve ... p38-06.htm
Mike Jackson
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Post by Mike Jackson »

Bruce, you might want to read over the Decalcomania page in the Rick Glawson section, linked below. Lee Littlewood supplied us with some of Rick's notes on the subject. It covers the process of painting on gummed paper and transferring to glass.

http://www.theletterheads.com/glawson/decalomaniac.html

Mike
Mike Jackson / co-administrator
Golden Era Studios
Vintage Ornamental Clip art
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John Lennig
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Book info

Post by John Lennig »

Hi Rick, could you post the author of the Entrez book, also the ISBN #, if easy..

Thanks, John Lennig/SignRider
"You spelled it wrong!"
BruceJackson
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Post by BruceJackson »

Entrez: Signs of France
By: Steven Rothfeld, Andre Aciman
Hardcover: 96 pages ; Dimensions (in inches): 0.59 x 8.07 x 8.04
Publisher: Artisan Publishers; (May 1, 2001)
ISBN: 1579651704

You can check out the look of the book through amazon
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/de ... 8&v=glance

It's got mixed reviews on the site. Some people were disappointed but for a signwriter, it looks promising with good photos.

I picked it up for $5 (shipping is twice as much as the book!). It hasn't arrived yet.

Bruce
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