Dec 19, 2007 - Sale 2133

Sale 2133 - Lot 75

Price Realized: $ 1,320
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 1,500 - $ 2,000
NIESTLÉ (DATES UNKNOWN) SOHNLEIN CARTE BLANCHE. 1900.
30 1/2 x 19 inches.
Condition A-: minor repaired tears at edges and in corners. Japan.
This German sparkling wine company was founded by Johann Jacob Söhnlein in 1864. The product Rheingold was named after the first part of Richard Wagner's tetralogy Der Niebelungen. To advertise this Sekt (the German version of champagne), an unknown artist attempts to evoke the best of contemporary French design by channeling Alphonse Mucha. The central image is an interpretation of Mucha's tête byzantine, and the stars effervescing from the glass confirm that the artist was familiar with Mucha's work. The poster, with its symmetrical borders of bottles with popping corks and clean typography in the middle, is both elegant and effective. Weisser p. 53.