Description:
Original painted design from the interwar period, probably from the 1930s. It was created for a coffee substitude brand, called Franck, as a part of the design of a packaging. It is still unknown who created the artwork.
Franck was a popular brand in Hungary in the period and it was the first company in the country which started producing substitute products for coffee.
The “fake” coffee is mostly made of chicory still nowadays. The chicory-coffee was originated from the 17th century Europe, and it became an everyday need during the Continental Blockade during the Napoleonic Wars. The system was the foreign policy of Napoleon I of France in his struggle against Great Britain. A large-scale embargo started against the British trade in 1806 and ended in 1814. It forbade the import of British goods into European countries allied with or dependent upon France. As coffee beans were not available from overseas anymore, but coffee-drinking was already a habit, a substitute product was needed.
Soon later the company Franck was established. The story of Franck goes back to 1827, when a young and ambitious German entrepreneur named Johann H. Franck managed to refine the large-scale production of a coffee substitute using chicory root. The first factory was opened in Germany, but the product soon became world-wide popular. The first Hungarian branch was established in 1909 and the brand quickly made a name for itself in the country.
This artwork was created probably for a cover design of a metal box of Franck grinded chicory-coffee, the company’s main product. The design is a clear composition of simple, geometrical forms. The use of only a few colours and elements contribute to a modern design. The main element is obviously the name of the brand which is in the centre of the image. The original trademark of the brand can be seen in a blue cirlce above: the little image shows a coffee grinder. The little sign of 1/6 proportion below refers to the quantity of the product, it means 60 decagrammes.
This original painted artwork is an interesting relic from the interwar period.
Size: 23,5x14,4 cm
