The Woman Taking Coffee

1774

Louis-Marin Bonnet

(French, 1736–1793)

Culture

France, 18th century

Medium

Color pastel–manner etching and engraving with applied gold leaf

Support

Laid paper

Measurements

Image: 28.5 x 23.3 cm (11 1/4 x 9 3/16 in.); Sheet: 32.2 x 25 cm (12 11/16 x 9 13/16 in.)

Credit Line

Carole W. and Charles B. Rosenblatt Endowment Fund 2003.49

Catalogue raisonné

Le Blanc 535; Hérold 294

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Location

Not on view

Did You Know?

The elaborate gold frame surrounding this print was created with some of the same techniques used to gild frames in the 1700s.

Description

This print belongs to a series created by Louis-Marin Bonnet featuring innovative color printing techniques derived from optical science to mimic the pastel drawings and miniature paintings highly sought by collectors. To increase the works’ appeal, the artist also developed a method for printing decorative frames by applying gold leaf. Hoping to evade strict governmental regulations on the uses of gold in France, he passed off his prints as English imports, which he sold at his store Au Magasin Anglois (At the English Shop). Bonnet’s elaborate ruse included English titles, the address of a London printshop, and a pseudonym, L. Marin.