44 1/2x78 inches, 113x198 cm. G. Ricordi & C., Milan. Condition B: replaced losses, repaired tears, creases and abrasions in margins and along folds and seams; water stains in right margin. Three-sheets.
At the turn of the century, the department store E. & A. Mele & Cie commissioned numerous artists to create luxurious advertisements such as this promoting the civility, gentility and aquirability of their products to the well-to-do of Naples. Malerba, Dudovich, Cappiello, and Aleardo Villa, are among the best known designers who created advertisements for the company, often using large formats and sumptuous colors to entice the outwardly-focused upper class into their storefronts. Villa's image differs from most of the more commonly-seen Mele posters in its horizontal format, but also in its advertising a "rich assortment" of clothes and dresses for children, rather than sophisticated adults. Ricordi p. 7.
