À la mode actuelle - selections from Le Vocabulaire des dames, by Henri Grévedon

 

Large-scale lithographs of fashionably dressed women - imaginary portraits - were popular in the late 1820s and 1830s, and Henri Grévedon produced about twenty series between 1828 and 1840, each containing between four and twenty-eight prints. Among those were:

Epoques remarquables de la vie de femme, 1830
Le Vocabulaire de dames, 1831-34
Heroïnes des principaux romanciers contemporains, 1833
Le Miroir des dames, ou Nouvel alphabet français, 1834
Recueil de quelques portraits d'actrices des principaux théâtres de Paris, 1831-1834
Les Mois, 1838
Portraits de femmes, selon leur rang social, 1840

His Le Vocabulaire des dames was produced over a period of four years; the title page of the series states, "This collection of portraits will be replenished every month, as soon as new fashion appears." The lithographs were produced in four batches of six prints over the four years and could be purchased individually or as a series. The series was sold commercially, by subscription and through stores, in both Paris and London.

Most likely, Grévedon not only created the drawings, but also lithographed many of the sheets himself, as they display the signature of the master, but bear no indication of another lithographer. 

The series' lithographs were large, measuring roughly 19x12 inches (49x31 cm) making it impossible to insert them into albums of a commonly available size. They were, instead, considered suitable as images to be framed and hung on a wall; industrious print retailers offered gilded and glazed frames to fit.

The special advantage of many of Grévedon's works is that they're hand-painted. As a rule, the coloring was not repeated, which gave each sheet a special individuality. The beautiful hand-coloring also significantly increased the price of the lithographs. The black and white edition of Le Vocabulaire des dames sold for 9 francs per lot, while the hand-colored edition sold for 15 francs per lot.

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Pierre-Louis ("Henri") Grévedon (17 October 1776, Paris - 1 June 1860, Paris), French painter, illustrator, and lithographer. In 1789, at the age of thirteen, he entered the workshop of Jean-Baptiste Regnault at the École des Beaux-Arts de Paris. He first exhibited at the Paris Salon in 1804; for his debut he was awarded a 1st class medal. He traveled to Russia in 1806, remaining there until 1812, followed by stays in Stockholm and England, before returning to France in 1816. He exhibited from 1824 to 1859 at the Paris Salon, and in January of 1832 was awarded the Légion d'honneur.