Advertisement for Cashmere Bouquet
Datec. 1897
Artist
Joseph Christian Leyendecker
(American painter and illustrator, 1874–1951)
Illustration CitationAdvertisement design for Cashmere Bouquet, possibly unpublished
MediumChalk, crayon, and gouache on paper
Dimensionssheet: 24 5/8 × 18 7/8 in. (62.5 × 47.9 cm)
mat: 30 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 cm)
mat: 30 × 24 in. (76.2 × 61 cm)
Credit LineGift of Helen Farr Sloan, 1984
Object number1984-19
On View
Not on viewClassificationsDRAWING
Label TextThis advertisement for Colgate & Co.'s powder and soap brand Cashmere Bouquet plays on the exoticism of once-rare cashmere in the product's name. To this end, Leyendecker allows us a view through the opening in a patterned wall to see a beautiful harem woman holding the mouthpiece of a water pipe or hookah in her left hand. The smoke wafting up from the hookah overlays the scene and some of the letters in the identifying title. The influences of Art Nouveau and Symbolism are present in this drawing, as in many of Leyendecker's early works.This may have been produced as an entry to a contest sponsored by Colgate and Company in 1897. Leyendecker entered similar contests at this time.
