A delivery boy staggers under a tower of Mele hatboxes while a woman boards her carriage.
Leonetto Cappiello (1875 to 1942) designed the poster in 1903 for E. & A. Mele & C., the Naples department store. Officine G. Ricordi & C. printed it in Milan. The store commissioned several artists to advertise it, and this is one sheet from that series. Cappiello had arrived in Paris from Livorno in the late 1890s. He first made his name as a caricaturist for Le Rire and L'Assiette au Beurre, then moved into commercial poster work.
On the poster
A woman in a sweeping yellow gown and plumed hat boards a waiting carriage. The delivery boy carries the branded hatboxes. A grey ground sets off the saturated yellows and reds. The lettering is in sage green: "Novità per Signora / Massimo Buon Mercato" [Novelties for ladies / Lowest prices].
About this print
A digitally restored reproduction, printed on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art paper with pigment inks.

