Vintage Poster Archives
Citron Salomon 1920s | Beatrice Mallet Soap Poster
Citron Salomon 1920s | Beatrice Mallet Soap Poster
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A round-cheeked toddler stands in a white wash-basin, holding a lemon-shaped yellow soap bar. To the right, an open product box displays six individually wrapped bars of Citron Salomon Genuine Lemon Juice Soap. The composition fills a saturated cobalt-blue ground; 'CITRON SALOMON' runs across the top in large cream slab-serif type, and the product claim 'BLANCHIT, ADOUCIT, RAFRAICHIT' (Whitens, Softens, Refreshes) anchors the middle register.
Designed by Beatrice Mallet (1896–1951), an English-born illustrator who moved to Paris in the early 1920s and built a first-rank reputation in French commercial art. Mallet was the illustrator of choice for Galeries Lafayette, Petit Bateau, and Lion Noir shoe polish, among many others. Her hallmark was a warmly observed, slightly mischievous depiction of children, which made her an ideal choice for a soap brand selling on the dual promise of hygiene and freshness. The poster was lithographed by Imprimerie J.E. Goossens of Lille and Paris for Georges Salomon, Parfumeur, of Pantin.
The poster belongs to the period between Mallet's arrival in Paris and her peak commercial output through the mid-1920s, when the flat graphic language of French commercial lithography had found its confidence: bold ground colours, simplified product staging, and an illustration style that could hold a wall across a street or a shop window with equal force.
Reproduced as a vintage advertising poster on 200gsm Enhanced Matte Fine Art Paper, using pigment-based archival inks. A coherent fit alongside other French inter-war commercial illustration, or as a standalone note of colour in a kitchen, bathroom, or working study.
