Jules Chéret produced numerous variations on this poster advertising Saxoléine paraffin oil. Prior to the introduction of electricity, paraffin oil provided the main source of lamp fuel to light nineteenth-century homes and streets. Paraffin was a mineral-based oil, a vast improvement on the animal-based oils that had previously been used, which emitted smoke and a strong smell on burning. This accounts for the Saxoléine poster's tagline: Pétrole de Sureté, meaning that it was a stable fuel that could be relied upon. To reinforce this, Chéret's design shows a young, attractive woman holding a lamp aloft, its brilliant light illuminating her dress.