Print, Design for a box of Lefèvre-Utile biscuits

This set of three lithographed panels was one of Alphonse Maria Mucha’s designs for Lefèvre-Utile biscuit packaging. Mucha had a long relationship with Lefèvre-Utile, a French biscuit company founded in Nantes in 1846. Beginning in the 1880s, Lefèvre-Utile commissioned well-known artists to design their packaging and advertising. In 1896, Mucha was commissioned to create posters for the company. He was the first designer to use the company’s initials, LU, as a decorative motif, which he did in his design for the company’s 1897 calendar. The abbreviation proved so popular that the company subsequently formally took up the moniker. Around the turn of the century, Mucha was tasked with designing LU’s packaging designs and a brand identity. Mucha’s designs reflect a particular sensitivity to the shape of the packaging and the pleasant natures of its contents—Mucha’s signature languorous women, along with the use of a consistent font and logo, reinforced LU’s brand identity and transformed the package into its own publicity.

Print, Design for a box of Lefèvre-Utile biscuits; Designed by Alphonse Maria Mucha (Czech, 1860–1939); Client: Lefevre-Utile; France; lithograph on paper; H x W: 9.2 x 19.7 cm (3 5/8 x 7 3/4 in.); Gift of Harry C. Sigman; 2013-21-45