Papillons, Pl. 18

Eighteenth plate of album with 20 pochoir pattern plates, titled "Papillons: vingt planches en phototypie coloriées au patron donnant 81 papillons et 16 compositions décoratives" (Butterflies: twenty plates with colored phototypes with patterns with 81 butterflies and 16 decorative compositions), created by Emile-Allain Séguy and published in Paris by Tolmer Éditeur, probably in the 1920s. The plate features four abstract ornamental patterns inspired on the natural beauty of butterflies, providing what Séguy considered a successful example of the application of scientific study of insects in artistic creation, resulting in colorful designs likely intended for textiles or wallpapers. The first pattern is made up of strips of butterflies colored with shades of brown, silver, and black, over a bright pink background with semi-abstract carnations (?) colored with two shades of orange, and outlined with white, flanked by leaves colored with orange, brown, and black stripes. The second design is made up of alternating, semi-abstract butterfly wings, colored with shades of brown, orange, blue, green, and black. The third design consists of a vertical strip of alternating almond-shaped, semi-abstract butterfly wings, made up of rings colored with shades of brown, black, and bright pink, framed between two thin, light brown stripes, on a black ground. The fourth design is made up of semi-abstract butterflies colored with green, yellow, and black, over a blue ground.