Lettres Décoratives: A Century of French Sign Painters’ Alphabets
Text by Morgane Côme.
An immersive look inside 12 colorful alphabet albums used by 19th- and early 20th-century French sign painters
Beginning in the 19th century, sign painters adorned the streets and storefronts of French cities with eye-catching letters in styles ranging from the elegant to the eccentric. Large chromolithographic portfolios supplied these artisans with an array of dazzling model alphabets for use as inspiration, teaching aids and shows of technical skill. Lettres Décoratives offers a definitive collection of plates from these portfolios originally published from the mid-1800s through the 1930s. More than 150 large-scale reproductions of stunning alphabets, most reproduced for the first time ever, provide a wealth of inspiration and insight into sign painting styles and techniques. An extensively researched historical essay by expert sign painter and author Morgane Côme tells the fascinating story of French sign painting and explores the significance of its chromolithographic alphabet albums. Sumptuously designed for Letterform Archive by the French studio Violaine & Jérémy, the book features an impressive format (useful for aspiring sign painters) and original cover art. Complete with a selection of rarely seen historical photography of shop signs in 19th-century Paris, this volume constructs a rich panorama of the age of la peinture en lettres.
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Graphic designers, typographers and Francophiles, rejoice! Letterform Archive has published the book you didn’t know you needed, but without which you will no longer be able to live. Collecting twelve gorgeous vintage alphabet albums used by 19th and 20th-century French sign painters during the golden age of hand-painted storefront signage, this oversized compendium functions as both a history lesson and a treasure-trove of templates for contemporary use. Originally published for tradesmen only, most of these familiar, yet ever so exotic abecedaria have never been published before. Expert sign painter and historian Morgane Côme writes: “As models, the plates from these portfolios are just waiting to be reused, revisited and adapted to the expectations of the twenty-first century. Designers may look to them as a valuable sourcebook for past styles or find jumping-off points to make something new. Digital-type revivals and experiments, perhaps even new tools for public lettering, could grow from the inventive letterforms and compositions that lie within. For those of us involved in sign painting, a trade that once almost vanished in France, these plates help anchor the practice in history. Now is an exciting moment. Although our numbers remain small (perhaps a hundred professionals, compared to five thousand in 1980), today we inherit a craft less closely tethered to decoration and more open to invention.” continue to blog
Lettres Décoratives: A Century of French Sign Painters’ Alphabets
Published by Letterform Archive Books. Text by Morgane Côme.
An immersive look inside 12 colorful alphabet albums used by 19th- and early 20th-century French sign painters
Beginning in the 19th century, sign painters adorned the streets and storefronts of French cities with eye-catching letters in styles ranging from the elegant to the eccentric. Large chromolithographic portfolios supplied these artisans with an array of dazzling model alphabets for use as inspiration, teaching aids and shows of technical skill. Lettres Décoratives offers a definitive collection of plates from these portfolios originally published from the mid-1800s through the 1930s.
More than 150 large-scale reproductions of stunning alphabets, most reproduced for the first time ever, provide a wealth of inspiration and insight into sign painting styles and techniques. An extensively researched historical essay by expert sign painter and author Morgane Côme tells the fascinating story of French sign painting and explores the significance of its chromolithographic alphabet albums. Sumptuously designed for Letterform Archive by the French studio Violaine & Jérémy, the book features an impressive format (useful for aspiring sign painters) and original cover art. Complete with a selection of rarely seen historical photography of shop signs in 19th-century Paris, this volume constructs a rich panorama of the age of la peinture en lettres.
