Chocolat Menier - Éviter Les Contrefaçons (Beware of Imitation) - French Chocolate Company

Etienne Maurice Firmin Bouisset (1859 - 1925) was a French painter, poster artist and printmaker. As an artist, Firmin Bouisset specialized in painting children subjects and did a number of illustrated books such as La Petite Ménagère (The Little Housekeeper) in 1890. At a time when posters were a popular form of advertising, Bouisset created posters with enduring images for a number of different French food companies such as Maggi and Lefèvre-Utile. Firmin Bouisset is probably most famous for his posters for the French chocolate manufacturer, Menier. Contracted by the company in 1892, Bouisset used his daughter Yvonne as a model to create what became an iconic image of a little girl using a piece of chocolate to write the company's name. Bouisset's work was part of the Les Ma√Ætres de l'Affiche (Jules Chéret's Art Nouveau publication ) as well as L'Estampe Moderne, the leading publisher of original French prints during the late nineteenth century.