Le Grand Siècle de l’Affiche · The Masters
Savon Cristel, Gosselies — savon mou, garanti pur
Henri Privat-Livemont · Colour lithograph poster, Brussels, 1896, 1896
What it is
From the same 1896 year as his Absinthe Robette, Privat-Livemont applied identical craft to a far humbler client: soft soap from Gosselies, lettered 'garanti pur'.
Why it matters
The whiplash Art Nouveau border and the artist's pale contour drawing do the persuading; the product claim is left to the type. Printed as a colour lithograph by Goffart in Brussels.
What to notice
Soft soap sold with Art Nouveau grandeur — Privat-Livemont turns a Gosselies detergent into a lithographic reverie.
For one decade, the street was the gallery.
Provenance
- School
- Belle Époque — the Affiche (France)
- Designer
- Henri Privat-Livemont
- Printer / house
- Presses de Goffart, lithographe, Bruxelles
- Format
- Advertising poster
- Poster published
- Colour lithograph poster, Brussels, 1896, 1896
- Source
- Bibliothèque nationale de France, département Estampes et photographie · btv1b90164106; BnF cat. ark:/12148/cb411854582
Live trademark
Savon Cristel — sold here as history, never adopted into this house’s own branding.
Rights: CLEAR. Public domain — U.S. 95-year rule (published 1930 or earlier). Gated by the poster’s own publication year. Cleared by registry on 2026-07-18.
Format
The full-resolution, color-managed file — restored honestly, yours to print and keep.
Sized to protect print quality — this scan supports sizes up to 40x60" cleanly.
Size
$29.00
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