Choix, "Planche I: Commode: En bois naturel, miroir à cadre de cristal, brocade soie et argent”

This book, titled "Choix" (Choice), is the second of 800 copies that were published by Paul Iribe, a French illustrator, cartoonist, designer, decorator and art director, in 1930. Lamenting that French design had become "poor" and "americanized" in the years since the First World War, Iribe argues that the genius of French design lies in what he calls the "principe de l'arabesque" (principle of the arabesque). Facing the economic downturn of the 1930, Iribe is inviting his fellow French designers to choose to return to the "arabesque France" in design rather than to continue following the fashions imposed by the "cube Europe". To do so, after 31 pages with written text explaining his purpose, he presents seven plates of printed overlays over gold and silver board images depicting styles of the 1930's in home decor and fashion, as examples of industrial designs to illustrate the principle of the arabesque.

This plate, the first in the book, presents a design for a cabinet and a rectangular framed mirror standing above it. The two are executed on the silver board through the use of a smoother texture than the background, which contains a rough texture from which several stylized natural motifs can be distinguished: jellyfish, sealions and small trees, with bubbles floating around them. The shape of the cabinet was probably inspired on that of a seashell or a snail, and was meant to be made up of natural wood. The mirror frame was meant to be created with crystal, and the pattern on the wall was meant to be made out of brocaded silk and silver. The printed overlay contains black shadows for the dresser and the mirror, making the shapes more clear, and creating a dramatic interior design.