The Milk Woman

In his quest to emulate fashionable drawings for display, Bonnet developed a method for printing gold frames. After preparing the paper with printed layers of lead white and a red adhesive compound called a mordant, Bonnet hand-applied gold leaf, on top of which he printed ornamental patterns. Because French regulations restricted the use of gold to certain artisans, like furniture builders, Bonnet disguised these prints as English imports. He sold them from a shop called <em>Au Magasin Anglois</em> (From the English Shop) and even advertised the fictional name “Le. Marin” as the foreign inventor of the printed frames. For English-speakers, however, the odd spelling “ta-King” in the inscription for <em>The Woman Taking Coffee</em> betrays Bonnet.