125 x 87 in./317.5 x 221 cm
Imp. Chaix, Paris
"Around 1900 in France, poster-mania had spread like wildfire with a vogue for organizing poster competitions that had apparently originated in the United States. There were generally two stages of competition: a preliminary round for draft layouts, followed by a second round between finalists. For the Bi-Borax poster competition (1897), there was an additional step in the selection process: after the eight finalists had been picked by a jury, their entries were printed together in the form of one very large [four-sheet] poster… the general public was then invited to select and vote for their favorite entry… The eight final designs were labeled with a capital letter, from A to H which corresponded to, respectively: L. Kovalsky, M. Clément, F. Poulboot, H. Detouche, J. Chadel, Ch. Weisser, J. Everlé, and one other, anonymous finalist. The text incorporated in each design was identical: ‘Oriental Bi-Borax cleans, purifies, cleanses’” (Health Posters, p. 155).