Pelikan Artist's Materials. Original Hand-Coloured Paint Samples. Verkaufskatalog 25B.

Pelikanwerke Günther Wagner, Hannover und Wien. Verkaufskatalog 25B. Deutsche Ausgabe. Hannover: Pelikanwerke Günther Wagner, 1908.

8vo. 259 pp. Publisher's original pictorial cloth stamped in black, orange, and white with the iconic Pelikan pelican trademark in an Art Nouveau design. Thumb-indexed fore-edge. Profusely illustrated throughout with hundreds of engravings and colour plates depicting artists' materials, watercolour sets, drawing inks, Chinese ink sticks, brushes, palettes, paint boxes, and other studio equipment. Numerous original hand-painted colour sample charts ("Original-Handaufstriche") for Pelikan artists' watercolours and drawing inks are bound in, accompanied by extensive price lists and technical descriptions. Includes a striking colour bird's-eye view of the Günther Wagner factory complex in Hanover. Text in German.

An exceptionally handsome and comprehensive trade catalogue issued as Verkaufskatalog 25B, documenting the full range of Pelikan artists' materials manufactured by Günther Wagner at the firm's Hanover and Vienna works. The catalogue is notable for its lavish Art Nouveau typography and design, extensive illustrations, and, above all, its numerous original hand-painted colour swatches demonstrating the firm's watercolours and drawing inks. Intended for the trade, it also serves as an important reference on the manufacture and marketing of artists' materials in the early twentieth century. The elaborate thumb-index, factory view, and original colour samples distinguish it as one of the finest pre-war Pelikan catalogues. Günther Wagner had established the Pelikan trademark in the late nineteenth century, and by 1908 the firm had become one of Europe's leading manufacturers of artists' and writing materials. VG condition.