French Delafosse Ornament Folio Série D Complete 55 Plates with Ethel Traphagen Provenance.  
 
Offered here is a scarce and visually compelling French design folio: Style Louis XVI: L’Oeuvre de Delafosse, Série D, published in Paris by Armand Guérinet. Public records identify this issue in the early 20th century, generally circa 1900 to 1920, and the exact matching trade description for Série D calls for 55 plates. This copy includes the plate list and appears complete from Plate A through Plate 54.
The significance of the folio lies in its connection to Jean-Charles Delafosse, a major French designer whose published works helped define and disseminate the Louis XVI / Neoclassical ornamental vocabulary. Decorative arts references and auction houses still cite L’Oeuvre de Delafosse when discussing important French furniture, bronzes, clocks, and architectural ornament.
This example carries an added layer of importance through its provenance to Ethel Traphagen, founder of the Traphagen School of Fashion in New York. FIT notes that she was one of the first teachers of fashion design and illustration in New York City and that her school became an important force in American fashion education. A design reference work of this type would have been highly relevant in her orbit and gives this copy a meaningful cross-disciplinary appeal.
Translation of key title material:
Style Louis XVI = Louis XVI Style
L’Oeuvre de Delafosse = The Work of Delafosse
Reproduction complète et intégrale … sans aucune retouche = Complete and unaltered reproduction of the period engravings, with no retouching
Dessins inédits de Delafosse = Unpublished drawings by Delafosse
Condition:
Antique condition with normal age-related wear to covers and edges. Interior shows toning and light wear consistent with age. All plates included. Ownership/provenance marks from Ethel R. Traphagen visible inside. A very appealing and highly displayable folio for collectors of French decorative arts, architecture, fashion history, and design source material.
With nearly 5 decades in this industry, we know that the best material often crosses collecting categories. This is not simply a French ornament folio — it is also a design-school and fashion-history piece because of the Traphagen connection.