Art nouveau lithograph 'Hermines vulgaires' – M.P. Verneuil, 1897

An original Art Nouveau colour lithograph with three stoats (ermines) among stylised birch trunks and an earth bank, in warm ochre, brown and green tones. From the famous Art Nouveau portfolio 'L’Animal dans la décoration' (Paris, 1897) by Maurice Pillard Verneuil, with an introduction by Eugène Grasset. In this book Verneuil showed how animals could be stylised into ornament, carpets, wallpaper and decorative art; the plates were printed as colour lithographs by Imprimerie Lemercier in Paris. The plate is titled 'Hermines vulgaires' below the image, signed in the plate 'M.P. Verneuil' and 'Imp. Lemercier, Paris' at lower right. Condition: Good. The colours are fresh. The paper is lightly toned with a couple of small spots in the lower margin and lightly worn edges. No tears in the image.