Printed in 1896 by Imp. Charles Lévy, Coca des Incas, vin tonique et digestif turns an advertisement for a coca-based wine into a lively social encounter. Two fashionably dressed women occupy the centre of the vertical composition: one sits in a white dress patterned with blue spots, glass in hand, while her companion leans towards her in a dark, extravagantly ruffled cape. Above them, the product name spreads across the poster in emphatic red lettering; below, a prominently placed bottle with a yellow label supplies the answer to the scene’s implied question.

The poster belongs to the intensely competitive commercial culture of fin-de-siècle France, when bold lettering, memorable characters and rich colour helped products command attention in the modern city. Its description of the drink as both tonique and digestif reflects the period’s enthusiasm for patent remedies and beverages marketed through claims of health, energy and wellbeing. Yet the sales argument is delivered through elegance rather than medical demonstration: fashionable dress, sociable drinking and a playful exchange associate the tonic with beauty and cultivated leisure.

A closer look

The figures are carefully differentiated through colour and texture. At the upper left, the seated woman’s pale dress is animated by crisp blue dots, a large bow and finely worked details around the collar. The glass she raises catches small reflections, giving a moment of brightness to her relaxed pose. On the right, the standing woman forms a darker, more dramatic silhouette. Her black cape gathers into dense ruffles, while roses in her hair soften its weight and echo the ornamental flowers placed elsewhere in the design.

Warm reds and earthy browns are set against strong blue accents and a softly graded green background. This contrast gives the figures clarity without requiring an elaborate setting: the poster remains spatially shallow and immediately legible, as effective advertising needed to be. Overlapping forms nevertheless introduce a modest sense of depth, particularly where the women, tabletop details and bottle meet. A glimpse of lace beneath the bottle adds another register of pattern, while the ornate yellow label ensures that the product remains identifiable amid the costumes and floral decoration.

Typography controls the movement of the eye. The large red heading establishes the brand first, with “vin tonique et digestif” making the promised qualities explicit. Near the lower left, the conversational caption asks, “Que faites-vous ma chère pour rester aussi belle?”—“What do you do, my dear, to remain so beautiful?” The line converts the two figures into participants in a miniature anecdote: one woman’s appearance prompts admiration, and the conspicuous bottle proposes the explanation. Smaller lettering along the lower margin records the Paris address, “Dépôt Général – 26, Rue de Pontoise,” completing the shift from theatrical fantasy to practical commerce.

Context and significance

Late nineteenth-century French advertising frequently blurred the boundaries between illustration, entertainment and salesmanship. Commercial lithography allowed broad fields of colour, decorative lettering and expressive figure drawing to work together at poster scale. Here, the name “Coca des Incas” also gives the beverage a deliberately exotic identity, while the elegant Parisian protagonists translate that distant association into a recognisable world of contemporary fashion and sociability.

What makes the design particularly revealing is the economy of its persuasion. The poster does not explain the drink through ingredients or extended claims. Instead, it constructs a compact visual sequence—question, glass, bottle, brand—in which colour and conversation do most of the work. The result is at once decorative and commercially direct, preserving a vivid example of how everyday beverages were given personality, aspiration and narrative in the advertising culture of 1896.

Choosing the right size and finish

Artwork can feel intimate at smaller sizes and dramatically more architectural at larger ones. Use the room preview, model image and size guide to see how the proportions and scale will work in your space.

If you need an exact size, specialist framing or help planning a larger display, ask our workshop for advice.

The model in the listing images is holding the 18x24in (45x60cm) version of this art print.

Where personalisation is available, you can add a short title or dedication, or one considered visual detail. See examples of personalised artwork.

Choose Original to retain the colour and character of the source artwork, or Aged for a warmer, more antique appearance. See examples of our Aged artwork.

Every piece is produced to archival standards using fade-resistant pigment inks on acid-free matte art paper. Choose an art print, framed art print or framed canvas using the finish options above.

Framed art prints use crystal-clear optical acrylic for excellent clarity, lower weight and safer delivery than glass. Each piece arrives professionally framed and ready to hang.

Selected artworks can be produced at statement sizes up to 3 metres (10ft). Custom sizing and specialist framing are also available. If the exact option you need is not listed, contact our workshop.

This artwork is also available as a float framed canvas, sometimes known as a shadow gap framed canvas or canvas floater. The work is printed on artist's cotton canvas and then stretched over a handmade box frame. We then "float" the canvas inside a wooden frame, which is available in a range of colours (black, dark brown, oak, antique gold and white). This is a wonderful way to present an art print without glazing in front. See some examples of float framed canvas art and explore the differences between my different finishes.