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L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare interesting detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
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  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare interesting detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare captivating detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare interesting detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare photograph of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare representative view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare highlighted image of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare photograph of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare selected detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare detail view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare photograph of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare image of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare fascinating view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare feature view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare image of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare interesting detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare captivating detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare interesting detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare photograph of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare representative view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare highlighted image of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare photograph of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare selected detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare detail view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare photograph of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare image of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare fascinating view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare feature view of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare detail of the 1869 - illustrated book.
  • L'Ornement Polychrome by Racinet, Auguste, a rare image of the 1869 - illustrated book.
L'Ornement Polychrome

100 chromolithographic plates shimmering in gold and silver, standing as a nineteenth-century encyclopedia of ornament.

Racinet, Auguste

L'Ornement Polychrome
Cent Planches En Couleurs Or Et Argent...Art Ancien Et Asiatique, Moyen Âge, Renaissance, Xviie Et Xviiie Siècle. Recueil Historique Et Pratique Avec Des Notices Explicatives. Publie Sous La Direction De M. A. Racinet.

1869, Paris, Firmin Didot

First edition

$1,800 USD

Overview

First edition/series of Racinet’s L’Ornement Polychrome, a testament to his fascination with the decorative arts, published between 1869 and 1873. This edition is followed by a second, expanded series with one hundred and twenty plates, which reflects both the considerable popularity of the work and the sustained demand for Racinet’s comprehensive documentation of ornament across historical periods.

Inside the book

The scope of L’Ornement Polychrome was remarkably broad, encompassing a diverse range of media from cultures worldwide, including intricate woodwork, detailed metalwork, architectural motifs, textile patterns, painted decorations, and ceramic designs. Racinet’s expansive approach underscores his ambition to create a visual encyclopedia of ornament, reflecting a prevailing nineteenth-century interest in exploring and comparing the artistic traditions of different cultures.

Why La Fenice chose it

L’Ornement Polychrome is gloriously ‘too much’: a nineteenth-century explosion of ornament that refuses to be subtle. One hundred chromolithographic plates, all glittering in gold and silver! Racinet staged a full-blown festival, maybe a little scholarly, but also theatrical, joyful, and irresistibly over the top. The result is a visual encyclopedia that’s part reference, part celebration, and all delight, still capable of making us smile today.
Condition Report

Pp. IV, 60, [2] - 100 chromolitographic plates + their descriptions on separate folios, [4] index.

Original cloth portfolio binding, somewhat faded, with gilt title; lower portion of spine damaged. Ties only partially preserved. Decorative leaf-patterned endpapers. Text sections unopened but showing significant dampstaining; the plates, however, are pristine, suggesting they were either stored separately or drawn from another lot. Regardless, the volume is complete as collated. Title page printed in red and black, with steel-engraved illustrations in the introduction. The 100 chromolithographic plates are executed with great skill, enhanced with details in gold and silver. Each plate is followed by its own description, on an unnumbered leaf. Clearly the copy shows signs of age as described, but the plates are in excellent condition and overall it is a good volume.

Dimensions (inches): 16.5 x 12 x 3
About the author

Auguste Racinet (1825 - 1893) was a French illustrator and historian of the decorative arts, celebrated for his sumptuous chromolithographic surveys of costume and ornament. His two great works, L’Ornement Polychrome (1869, 87) and Le Costume Historique (1876, 88), provided encyclopedic documentation of global styles, combining scholarly breadth with dazzling color plates. Widely admired in his own time, Racinet’s volumes became indispensable resources for artists, designers, and historians, and remain among the most influential visual compendia of the nineteenth century.

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