Les Ballades Françaises
(Manuscripts and Rare Books)
After Léon Gruel's death in 1923, Paul Gruel took over his father's firm. Many of the designs attributed to him exhibit stylistic characteristics of Art Deco. This Egyptian-inspired binding employs a technique called "onlay." The book was covered in a single piece of black leather; leathers of different colors were then pared extremely thinly and adhered to the base leather to form the pattern.
Provenance
Provenance (from the French provenir, 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody, or location of a historical object. Learn more about provenance at the Walters.
Owned by Henry Walters, Baltimore, before 1931; Walters Art Museum, 1931, by bequest.
Exhibitions
| 2013-2014 | Bookbindings from the Gilded Age. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore. |
Geographies
France, Lyon (Place of Origin)
Measurements
H: 10 3/8 × W: 8 1/4 × D: 1 5/16 in. (26.35 × 20.96 × 3.3 cm)
Credit Line
Acquired by Henry Walters, before 1931
Location in Museum
Not on view
Accession Number
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
In libraries, galleries, museums, and archives, an accession number is a unique identifier assigned to each object in the collection.
92.1033
Creative Commons License