This 1930s catalogue by French lingerie company J. Roussel, titled “The Art of Figure Sculpture,” offers a glimpse into the era’s design sensibilities, as well as the fashionable female form. 

The cover page of this catalogue features an elegant illustration of a picturesque smiling woman, with a curly coiffure, draped in delicate lingerie. Positioned slightly off-center, she is surrounded by abstract black and white shapes, evoking the avant-garde influence of surrealism, championed by visual artists like Salvador Dali, as well as fashion designers like Elsa Schiaparelli…