Student's Design Notebook plus Additional Watercolored Designs on Separate Sheets

Hardcover. Cloth spine. Marbled paper pasted onto boards. . Good. Well executed, impressive assortment of designs done by a capable, advanced French student. N.d., circa 1900. Folio, 35.5 by 22.5 cm. Notebook with 41 pages of content, plus 21 loose sheets with watercolored designs, filling out pen-and-ink or penciled outlining. Notebook pages ruled vertically down middle, with French descriptive text on left, designs described on right. 28 pages of the notebook have more or less fully realized and satisfying watercolored vignettes, generally done directly onto the page, with a few vignettes on mounted sheets. Other pages have designs only in light pencil, partially finished, or no illustrations at all. The notebook paper is graph paper. Designs are widely varied: Egyptian stylized bird iconology, vases and urns, lanterns and chandeliers, glassware, diaper ornaments, steeples or crockets, columns and friezes, Gothic, Arabic, Renaissance, etc. In the notebook, floral and leaf ornaments are especially salient, and an Art Nouveau sensibility often comes through. Condition: moderate wear to notebook, some crinkling and edgewear to the separate sheets, which are on a heavier paper stock, we would note.