81x110¼ inches, 205¾x280 cm. Officine G. Ricordi & C., Milan. Condition B: extensive repaired tears, replaced losses and overpainting in margins and image and along folds and seams; significant areas of bleaching in image. Four-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 acquirability of their products to the well-to-do of Naples. Malerba, Dudovich, Cappiello, Villa and Metlicovitz 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. Tennis Posters end paper & p. 21, not in Ricordi, Bolaffi p. 144, Mele Cat. #52.
