[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]

SCHMIED, François-Louis [1873–1941; Swiss–French]

“Jean Monnier”

ca1910

color woodcut with gold leaf / 5.75 inches by 7.25 inches (image) / unnumbered edition

Swiss-born, F. L. Schmied became a naturalized French citizen before being exiled to Morocco, where he died. Schmied was a multi-talented artist working as a painter, wood engraver, printer, editor, illustrator, and bookbinder. His illustrated books are highly collectible and became the subject of a study published by the Book Club of California in a limited edition by Ward Ritchie.

This image of Jean Monnier is unexplained: too large for a bookplate; too small for a poster. “Domaine Jean Monnier & Fils” continues today as a provider of French wines, which is how he may have been connected to the Sobieski family, in-laws of Kurt Bernhard.