Raleigh 1895 Poster — E. Clouet

— Poster —
RALEIGH

[On the signboard:]

27
Avenue de la Grande Armée
PARIS

LES MEILLEURES BICYCLETTES sont les RALEIGH
MUNIES DE JANTES EN BOIS FAIRBANKS

[Signed at the lower right:]

E. Clouet 95

[Printed up the right-hand edge of the sheet:]

Imp. KOSSUTH & Cie, Rue Albouy 24, Paris.

[A young woman in a purple jacket with great puffed sleeves, a red bow at the neck, a hat trimmed with red roses and a veil, tan gloves and bloomers stands on a riverbank beside a diamond-frame bicycle, one hand on its saddle and the other raised to wave a handkerchief. A signpost behind her gives the address of the Paris agency, and the bicycle’s rims are drawn in yellow.

The lettering makes a technical claim rather than a picture one: the best bicycles are Raleighs, fitted with Fairbanks wooden rims. Wooden rims were lighter than steel and were favored for fast riding in the middle of the decade, and the yellow of the rims in the picture is varnished wood. The rider wears bloomers rather than a skirt and stands beside a diamond frame rather than a lady’s frame. The signature dates the sheet: Clouet added the year, 95, after his name.]