Book excerpt: This unique collection of beautiful floral patterns and stencil designs showcases the rich, muted colors and distinctive, sinuous lines of the Art Nouveau style. Included are 159 floral and foliate motifs, created in the late 1890s by M. P. Verneuil, one of the Art Nouveau movement's finest artists. All the designs have been meticulously reproduced from original plates in two rare, turn-of-the-century portfolios: Étude de la Plante and L'ornementation par le Pochoir. Among the graceful images are 120 full-color illustrations of garden flowers — foxglove, hollyhock, columbine, lilies, wisteria, jasmine, and snowdrops, as well as 39 stencil designs (also in color) of blossoming trees, reeds, mushrooms, oak leaves and acorns, peacocks and flowers, wild roses, and more. Finely detailed and subtly shaded, these copyright-free designs are an invaluable resource perfect for adding a note of elegance to fabrics, stained glass, wallpaper, and a host of other art and craft projects. Browsers and devotees of the Art Nouveau style will also welcome this treasury of striking, full-color plates.