1892 Clément Cycles With Champions Cassignard and Charron, Advertising Poster

Clément Cycles Poster, Featuring Cycling Legends: Cassignard & Charron

Beautiful late nineteenth-century advertising poster for Clément Cycles of Paris, celebrating two of the firm’s star riders, Georges Cassignard and Fernand Charron. The design places a Clément racing bicycle in perfect profile on a velodrome, with riders in blue jerseys racing on the track and a grandstand full of spectators in the distance. Above it, the large word “Clément” stretches across a stippled blue sky, while the famous Clément badge with a rooster perched on a wheel appears in the upper right corner.

The artist uses the bicycle wheels as circular medallions for portraiture. In the front wheel, a finely shaded portrait of Geo. Cassignard is surrounded by the inscription “Geo. Cassignard, trois fois champion de France en 1892 sur machines Clément pneumatiques Dunlop.” The rear wheel frames F. Charron, with the legend “F. Charron, trois fois champion de France en 1891 sur machines Clément pneumatiques Dunlop.” The text proudly ties both men’s multiple French titles to Clément bicycles equipped with Dunlop pneumatic tyres.

Cassignard was a leading French track specialist of the period, French champion in 1892 with several national titles that year, including the 50-kilometre tricycle championship. Charron was one of the outstanding all-round riders of the early 1890s and would soon become known as a pioneering racing driver, making him a genuine celebrity for the brand.

The company itself, founded by industrialist Adolphe Clément in the 1870s, had become one of France’s dominant cycle manufacturers by the 1890s and held the French manufacturing rights for Dunlop pneumatic tyres. The poster reflects that success, presenting Clément as the choice of champions and visually linking modern lightweight safety bicycles, Dunlop tyres, and national track titles.

Printed in rich blues, greens, and ochres with delicate stipple shading, this piece is a superb example of early French cycling lithography and a beautiful addition to any cycling collection.

This poster has been archivally and professionally linen-backed.

Virtually all original vintage posters of this era were viewed as temporary advertising and were printed on very thin paper. While expensive, linen backing is a conservation method used to mount, stabilize, preserve, and protect vintage posters so they can be displayed or framed without compromising value.

This poster is an original first printing, not a reproduction.

Year: 1892
Artist: N/A
Imp: K. Kossuth & Co, Rue Albouy 24, Paris

Size: 64 x 47 cm (25 ¼  x 18 ½ inches) – Linen Backed Archival Mounting

Posters are sold unframed. Framed images are display ideas only.

This is a one-of-a-kind item; please review the photos carefully to determine the condition.

This item is listed on multiple platforms, and availability is subject to prior sale elsewhere.