Made in late 19th-century France, this chromolithograph reproduces a still life painting in the abundant style of the 18th century. The scene shows a tiered glass compote of apples, pears, grapes, and oranges, with an open bottle of champagne beside a bottle of red wine, a plate of pastries, and a porcelain teacup set on a table backed by a patterned oriental rug. Chromolithography was a printing process patented in France in 1837 by Godefroy Engelmann, a printer working in Mulhouse who figured out how to layer multiple stones of different colored inks to reproduce a painting in full color. The original gilt frame is carved with a beaded leaf border and has the small chips and scuffs of being moved between walls over a hundred and fifty years. The darkening across the surface is from candle and oil-lamp smoke that settled into the print before the age of electric light. Sylvie leans it against the wall on a kitchen shelf, lit by the candles she keeps burning through dinner.
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