O António Maria, Biscuits

Plan of a lid for a box of sweet biscuits, using the same title and lettering as Rafael Bordalo’s publication O António Maria. It shows 16 amusing edible caricatures of ‘Bordalian’ comedy, with the effigy of rival politicians, the royal family, Zé Povinho and Rafael himself. These were manufactured and sold in Lisbon by the award-winning industrialist Eduardo da Costa, decorative painter, republican and friend of the artist, who published a large advertisement for the biscuits in O António Maria, on 29 December 1881. It is a good example of the pioneering packaging design and advertising work that Rafael Bordalo carried out.