Welcome to Red Poulaine's Musings. Here we hope to entertain and delight you with stories about the people and times from bygone eras and the vintage images that act as our windows into their times.
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This week's featured cards feature Lucy Gerard (sometimes spelled Lucie Gérard). Born Marie-Louise Philiberte Lucy Gérard in Lyon, France, 1872, Lucy Gérard was a popular stage actress of Belle Époque France. Unfortunately, we know very little about her, except that in the first decade of the 20th century in France she was a great beauty, and her stage performances were very popular.
In the following image, she is framed by an Art Nouveau illustration designed to leave room for the sender's message. Post cards of this type fall under the category of what French collectors call a précurseur, a
card made before the back sides were divided to allow for written
communication. Prior to 1904, when the backs of these cards were
undivided as this one was, only the recipient's address was allowed on
the back side, and often short letters were written on the image side
instead. Discovering this, publishers produced picture postcards with
small images, often highly decorative, and allowing lots of space for
written communication.
One of her most famous roles was that of Fanny Essler, or Elssler, an Austrian Ballerina who in the play "l'Aiglon," by Edmond Rostand, was the love interest of Napoleon II. The role of Napoleon II, by the way, was played by the great Sarah Bernhardt. In fact, Rostand wrote the part specifically for her. The play was a huge success, and became one of Sarah Bernhardt's favorites. Playing the romantic lead opposite Bernhardt must have been quite a coup, and this postcard image, the one we find most often of Mlle. Gérard, is of her costumed for that role.
The hand-coloring on the following portrait is particularly lovely. Note that the date 9/9 1906 is written in the bottom left corner of both the face and the reverse, and the card was posted in 1906. We have not attempted a translation of the message, but we do see the word souvenir, which is the French word for memory, so we believe it's quite possible that this card was sent as a remembrance, by Clarion to Mlle. Ninon Peyran at the Chateau St. Charles, of a special evening at the theater during which Gerard performed.
The following image is a very nice example of the sort of photo-montage Leopold Reutlinger is so
well known for. Here we have famed stage actress Lucy Gérard
superimposed onto an image of the Bordeaux Amphitheater. Also known as
the Palais Gallien, it is surrounded by the cobbled streets of what was
once known as Burdigala. Burdigala once may have been the capital
of the ancient Roman province Gallia Aquitaina during the reign of the
emperor Augustus. The amphitheater once held up to 15,000 spectators.
Mlle. Gérard passed away in 1941. We feel a little sad when we think
about it, how she was born into a world of horses and carriages,
experienced France in one of its most glorious periods, Paris, in one of
its most glamorous and hopeful, and then to have died at a time when
her world had so dramatically changed, into one of machines and
motorcars, with her country occupied by Hitler's forces, no end in
sight, and not living long enough to experience the liberation...okay,
snap out of it Red :)
Here we have a series of four very special cards, representing the four seasons. Each of the seasons is personified by one of four famous Belle Époque stage performers. Each of these four cards is in particularly fine condition, though posted in 1909.
The Four Seasons, photographed by Reutlinger and posted in 1909
They must have been kept very carefully and lovingly, because, by their appearance, they are practically brand new! They were all sent by the same person, Ninette, to M. Emile Jourdan-Brive, who was clearly someone dear to her. Each includes a brief message, such as,"a thousand kisses from Ninette," written in a nice hand on the back of the card. Our researches suggest that Emile may have been a member of the Jourdan-Brive family of Marseille, who were well-known exporters of truffles, capers, wines, and perfumes to England during the Victorian era.
The images themselves, appear to be photogravures, made from photographs taken by the famous theatrical portraitist Leopold Reutlinger of Paris, probably circa 1905. Deeply impressed in fine, ivory-toned stock, these images are truly precious.
Although we are merchants, and generally sell our wares on a piece by piece basis, we simply cannot bring ourselves to break up so lovingly cared for, and romantic, a set of cards as this one. Consequently, we are selling these four cards as a set.
Note: There will be another post reflecting this listing due to our use of an automatic posting system, which ensures that every time we post an item in our shop a post appears in the blog. We are offering this post to provide you with complete information about the set, including high-res scans of the front and back of each card, since we are limited to only 5 images in our listing on Etsy.
Le Printemps, Spring
Le Printemps (Spring), is represented by the breathtaking Arlette Dorgere. Surrounded by early blossoms, her hair in a woodland sprite's disarray, she tenderly cradles a nest of tiny bird's eggs.
Le Printemps, by Reutlinger
Mlle. Dorgere was a very popular artiste who performed at the Scala, and in many other venues in Paris and elsewhere. We have not been able to find any information about her early life, but we know that her image was captured by the famous poster artist Jules Cheret, and that at about the time the photograph for this card was taken (circa 1904), she was already so successful that she was able to purchase a lovely chateau, the Chateau Vigneus sur Seine, in a quiet neighborhood south of Paris. It was on a large wooded lot, with a pond, and when the pressures of her work grew heavy, she would ride in her chauffeur-driven limousine to this retreat. In 1929, she sold the chateau, which she had renamed Chateau Dorgere, and retired quietly to Morocco, which was then a colonial protectorate of France.
Reverse of Le Printemps
Translation: A thousand beautiful kisses from Ninette
L’ Eté, Summer
L’ Eté (Summer), is represented by Mlle. Marcelle Yrven. In this image, she clutches flowers to her breast, while smiling joyfully, a goddess of the season.
L' Eté, by Reutlinger
Mlle. Yrven (1877-1949) was a fascinating woman who was not only a wonderful stage performer, but also an author, a poet, and outspoken on the subject of women in society. She wrote a short book on feminism, "La Comedienne Et Le Feminisme," as it related to women in the theater, which was not only interesting politically, but historically, as it pertained to La Belle Époque theater, really fascinating. We don't think it is available in English online, but it is short enough that if you have a little French, and the online translator, you can work through it.
Reverse of L' Eté
Translation: Best kisses from Ninette
L' Automne, Autumn
L' Automne (Autumn), is the season during which the wine grapes are harvested, as depicted by the maenad Mlle. Renee Despres, wearing vines and fruit of the vine.
L' Automne, by Reutlinger
This is a wonderful image in which she smiles at us invitingly, offering us the celebration of the season. Unfortunately, we have no biographical information on her, apart from the fact that she did appear on the playbills of a number of theaters in Paris, and that, from other images we've seen, she was a most elegant lady of the Belle Époque theater.
Reverse of L' Automne
Translation: Embraces (or, perhaps, kisses) Fernand for me Ninette [We find this just a bit confusing, since these cards all were addressed to M. Emile Jourdan-Brive, but perhaps Fernand was his middle or nickname.]
L' Hiver, Winter
L' Hiver (Winter), is here pictured not so differently than it might be in England, or elsewhere in Europe or the United States. We have the yule logs, Holly, the evergreen tree, and is that a bit of mistletoe Miss Campton wears in her hair beneath her hood?
L' Hiver, by Reutlinger
Miss Campton, like many performers in the Paris of that time, was English; she was born Emily Straham Cager in Brighton, in April of 1882. Here, photographed by Reutlinger, she was also often found in stunning images produced by Professor Stebbing, another well-known and prolific Belle Époque photographer. She was apparently a very special friend of Paul Derval, who for many years directed the Folies Bergere, and though they did not, as far as we know, marry, when she died at a relatively young age of cancer, in Paris, she was interred in the Derval family tomb.
Reverse of L' Hiver
Translation: Another kiss from Ninette
As a complete set, these cards evoke the magical and celebratory relationship between people and nature that often seems the very essence of so much art during this period.
The listing for this set will be available within the next 24 hours.
In Ida Fuller, née Pinckney (October 1, 1867-August 5, 1922), the well known Belle Époque "interpretive" dancer, we have a very clear example of the competitive twists and turns that sometimes occurred between performers of la Belle Époque.
Ida Fuller became widely known for her "skirt" dancing, also known as "butterfly" or "serpentine" dancing. This was a variety of dance which was, as far as we can determine, developed by the famous dancer, choreographer, and inventor, Loïe Fuller (January 15, 1862-January 2, 1928), a remarkable woman whose name became, in many ways, synonymous with Art Nouveau and the Belle Époque. Only one of the ways in which this is remarkable is the fact that Loïe Fuller (born Marie Louise Fuller) was a somewhat short, chubby girl from Illinois, not known for being a great beauty, who after gaining a middling reputation as an actress and singer in the States, made her way to Paris, opened at the Folies Bergeres, and became an almost instant success. Although she did return, now and then, to the U.S., and maintained her citizenship here, she basically adopted France as her home, and France, most certainly, adopted her.
Loïe Fuller also founded a number of dance schools in the United States and Europe for students interested in following the path of this iconic dancer. A group of students at one such school, L'École de Loïe Fuller, can be seen in the following image:
Called her "muses," or "Fullerettes" Miss Fuller is said to have doted on her students (one of whom was, for a short time, Isadora Duncan), and in the choreography and production end of performances with these girls, her work was almost as highly regarded as was she herself for her own interpretive dance routines.
A pioneer of modern dance, Loïe Fuller was also the developer of the "serpentine," or "skirt" dance. Part of the magic of this style, which involved the manipulation of sometimes hundreds of yards of silk, creating flowing patterns around and above the dancer, was the effect of colored lights shone up through a glass floor upon which the dancer performed. Miss Fuller was one of the earliest developers of colored gels for theatrical lighting, as well as a number of chemical formulas for use in lighting effects. Though not born into high society, or highly educated, she counted among her closest friends, top ranking scientists and inventors, members of European royalty, and artists of all mediums.
Volumes could be (and have been), written about Loïe Fuller, dubbed "La Loie" by Symbolist poet Stephane Mallarme and often affectionately called Lo-Lo by her admiring fans. The style of dance she introduced to the world was much copied and imitated. Her work was even parodied. In his book, The Victorian Visitors: Culture Shock in Nineteenth Century Britain, Rupert Christiansen tells of one amusing example: "the music hall star Little Tich, who parodied her [Loïe Fuller's "serpentine" dancing], as Miss Turpentine, swanning around the stage in yards of rapturous muslin and then breaking the sublime illusion by stopping to scratch her leg."
Scores of women claimed a close relationship to Loïe Fuller. Some even claimed to be her sister, going so far as to use the last name of Fuller, most of them illegitimately. But at least one could legitimately claim a familial relationship and the use of the Fuller name, and that one was Ida Fuller.
Less information can be found regarding Ida Fuller than Loïe. Born Ida Pinckney, in Forest City Iowa, in 1867, in biographical articles concerning Loïe, Ida is often dismissed as a mere imitator, a pretender to Loïe's own unique art form, the serpentine dance. That Ida was a latecomer, who made use of Loïe's already developed style to work out her own routines, is almost certain. To dismiss her, however, as a mere imitator, is probably not entirely fair.
It has been suggested that Ida's "claims" that she was a relation of Loïe's, were untrue. Our research suggests otherwise. Ida Pinckney married Frank Rodney Fuller, Loïe's elder brother, making the two women sisters-in-law. Frank was an electrician with extensive knowledge of Loïe's lighting effects, reputed to have been involved in her earliest successes with her dance routines, and it is likely that he used his skills to help his wife in her own dance routines.
The Lake Mills Graphic, a newspaper published in Lake Mills, Iowa, made note of Ida Fuller as she passed through town. The following snippets were shared on a genealogical forum by one of Ida Fuller's relatives:
Lake Mills Graphic, Iowa, 17 Oct 1894:
Lake Mills Graphic, Iowa 6 July 1898:
We also found a copy of an emergency passport application filled out by Ida in 1898, in Vienna. Witnessing this application is Frank R. Fuller, who, as mentioned above, was Loïe Fuller's older brother.
U.S. Passport Application for Ida Fuller, Issue Date: 26 Nov 1898*
This document at least establishes that Ida's claim to a familial relationship, if by marriage, is true enough.
Additionally, the "Fire Dance," a routine for which Loie herself became very well known, and to whom its invention is generally credited, was, (evidenced by our research), actually an invention not of Loïe's, but of Ida's, who performed the routine widely, both in Europe and in the United States.
In Forty Years of Observation of Music and Drama, by Robert Grau, 1909 Broadway Publishing Co., Grau, clearly a fan of Loïe Fuller's work, praised her artistic accomplishments, and bemoaned the fact that her genius had gone unappreciated in America. However, when touching on Ida, he writes (on page 240):
Ida Fuller is not a sister of Loie, but her sister in law. She married Frank Fuller, an electrician, who was closely identified with Loie's first success It is only fair to Ida to explain that her greatest achievement, the basic foundation of the success which she has so struggled for, the fire dance, is her own creation, as more than one important interest in theatricals has discovered by decisions in courts of equity, which give to Ida Fuller, for all time, undisputable protection to her patents and creations.
Loie's brother Burt (Loie's younger brother), also apparently an electrician, is often credited with having worked closely with Loie in the production of her routines, and Frank (her older brother), often goes unmentioned. We suspect that a rift developed between Loie and Frank, and can only imagine the unfortunate vituperations which must have arisen between them when Frank assisted his wife, Ida, in the development of the "Fire Dance."
On the other hand, we need to remember that although Loïe Fuller had the reputation of being extremely secretive as far as her "serpentine" dance routines and their lighting effects were concerned, in show business, whether in the moving picture industry, which was in its early infancy at that time, or on the stage, between dancers, or stage magicians (whose illusions immediately come to mind when thinking of Loïe and Ida Fuller's work), feuds between performers made the press, and what made the press made for public interest, and that translated into showers of gold. So we may never know for certain whether or not Ida and Frank actually hijacked Loïe's invention of serpentine dancing, or whether it was willingly shared among members of the same family.
If in France the reception of this style of dancing was embraced with excitement and enthusiasm, it was not always so elsewhere. Below is a quote from On and Off, a collection of theatrical interviews published in London, in 1894 by journalist Gilbert Dalziel, who refers to himself as "Mr. Call Boy" (note that the satirical voice of the book calls into question the accuracy of anything reported) in which he reveals, during the introduction to an interview with dancer Mimi St. Cyr, the contempt he feels for this style:
"As certainly as the Serpentine dance has been overdone, so has it been misnamed. The Serpentine dance, as we know it, is not serpentine at all. It's a waving of the skirts which is far more suggestive of clothes hanging out to dry in a high wind than of serpents."
We think it is rather a shame that Mr. Call Boy should have written so derisively of the style of dance in which Ida Fuller specialized, particularly when earlier in the book, he publishes an interview she granted him! Following is a portion of that interview in which Ida Fuller briefly, and somewhat humorously talked about one aspect of her dancing:
"I hear that this dancing with the arms is much more fatiguing than dancing with the legs. Is that a fact, Miss Fuller?"
"It is just that, Mr. Call Boy. And for why? In dancing with your arms you have to hold them up so, or stretch them out like that (suiting actions to words), and all the blood runs out of them. There's not much natural strength where there's no blood, you know, and consequently one kind of dancing is more tiring than the other. I find the Butterfly dance a tremendous strain. Dancing with your legs is a different thing altogether. They are more or less in their natural position; the feet are mostly pointed to the floor, and when a leg is thrown above the head, it is only for a moment. It is back again before it knows it has been there!"
In Art Nouveau: The French Aesthetic, Victor Arwas describes the physical challenges of this kind of dancing, particularly in terms of the manipulation of the long bamboo rods to which were attached the flowing silks. In fact, La Loie, and presumably Ida Fuller also, sometimes manipulated hundreds of yards of silk during her performances, causing them to gracefully billow and take shape as high as thirty feet in the air above her.
But, as to the artistic merits of this style of dance, our readers can be the judge. The following YouTube video will treat you to a delightful collection of very early motion picture clips, wherein a number of women (who knows, perhaps one of them is Ida Fuller!), perform this style of dance.
*Although we have read that Loie Fuller, herself, never made a motion picture of her work, we observe that the dancer in clip number seven does at least resemble La Loie.
*This image of Ida Fuller's U.S. Passport Application was from Ancestry.com. (Source Citation: National Archives and Records Administration (NARA); Washington D.C.; Emergency Passport Applications (Issued Abroad), 1877-1907; Collection Number: ARC Identifier 1187503 / MLR Number A1 515; NARA Series: M1834; Roll #: 14; Volume #: 22. Source Information: Ancestry.com. U.S. Passport Applications, 1795-1925 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2007.)
We are happy to announce that, as the happy purchaser of our 1,000th item on Etsy, Karen Donaldson (oneundonebird) will be receiving the very special Cléo de Mérode postcard featured in our Giveaway. Congratulations, Karen!
Exquisite Cleo De Merode Giveaway Card, circa 1900
We are currently getting our packages ready to ship, so Karen should be receiving her gift in just a few short days.
Many thanks to all of our wonderful customers who have helped us to reach this milestone! We are grateful to each and every one of you.
The featured cards in our shop currently include images of women with beautiful, long hair.
Prior to the 1920s, the traditional hairstyles for women almost always seemed to include long hair. That hair might be pinned up to fantastic heights, but take out the pins and the hair fell well past the shoulders, sometimes to the waist, hips, or even farther. And, as anyone who's ever worn long hair knows, taking care of that extra long mane takes lots of time and effort. Which may be one reason that we look with such amazement at these images of women wearing their long and luxurious hair down, so that it accentuates their beauty and grace.
The first of our featured cards is, of course, the card that we will be giving away with our 1,000th purchase. (See details.) In this image, Cléo de Mérode wears her hair down and we can see that, at least in front, her hair descends below her bustline, indicating that the full length is almost certainly well down her back. As always, of course, she is lovely.
The second of our featured images is a lovely photograph of an unidentified model, holding a bouquet of violet-colored flowers, whose hair falls down her back to arrive in the vicinity of her derriere. This model's hair may be the longest of those featured. The beautifully hand-colored card was published by Misange, most probably in either France or Germany sometime about 1910.
Our next featured image depicts an actress with beautiful long curls and a wild feathered hat. The expression on her face is so wonderful, making us think that she offers some words of wisdom for some wanderer. Perhaps, given the deliberately tattered nature of her gown, she is a fairy in disguise, and is about to gift some hero or heroine with some magical ability. Her hair, certainly, is worthy of any fairy queen.
Of note is the fact that this is a signed card, apparently signed in 1912 following a stage performance in Beaune (pronounced almost as in the English word "bone"), Burgundy, which is between Paris and Geneva. Based on her signature, the actress' name is Miry Cassari, or perhaps Lassari, but we have been unable to find any information about her and she remains a mystery. This is a wonderful image, and in a way there is something wistfully romantic and magical about the autograph of a forgotten actress. So often we have read about the immortality of the old gods having been dependent upon the worship of their followers. Perhaps, merely through the appreciation of this fine, evocative image, we can breathe a little life into the "joie de vivre" expressed by this lovely young woman, so long ago, and share in some of it ourselves.
The final featured item is this lovely biogravure by Steglitz, circa 1905. The maiden portrayed in this image is crowned by a wreath of flowers, which, together with her long, unbound hair symbolizes Spring and the purity and innocence of youth. Appropriately, the photographer has captured her with her gaze turned down, deftly maintaining the Arcadian ambiance.
One of the most beautifully expressive
faces of the Italian cinema, Pina Menichelli, radiates dramatic
presence even in this casual attire. We are particularly fond of one
series of images (of which this is one), which used what appears, at first, to be a very casual
crosshatching design as a frame, but the sweep of these markings, up and out
from the center, creates an instantaneous feeling of depth, and also
draws us into the center, where Signorina Menichelli, in highly
contrasting dark and light tones, becomes our only focus with no
exterior distraction (our eyes having dismissed the crosshatching).
Do
we over-think this stuff? Probably :) But we really do find the artistic
construction of these simple portraits exciting and moving. In short,
we love what these photographers, working with these amazing models,
were able to achieve!
We also love being able to show you cards in this almost pristine condition, as if you had just stepped off a train
in Milan, in 1921, and while waiting for your aunt, who was to meet you
at the station but is late in arriving, you stop at a kiosk which sells
newspapers, magazines and postcards. This particular image catches your
eye, because only last month you so enjoyed Pina in one of her films,
wearing this oh-so-modern outfit. As you remember sitting in the dark
cinema with your sweetheart, the sights and sounds of the busy railway
station disappear...
Now, for a real treat, follow the link below
to this YouTube video, so that you can better remember that wonderful
experience! We recommend a bowl of fresh popcorn and a SanPellegrino
Limonata sweetened with two tablespoons of sugar. Ah, Perfetto!
Traveling
through time and space is what we we are all about here at Red
Poulaine. Please think of us as your own personal Tardis. :)
One of our favorite, and most magical, subgenres of "Lovely Lady" postcards has to be that of the Marvelous Maenads. These are somewhat idealized, and presumably toned down, versions of those wild maidens of ancient Greece, who in their worship of Dionysus, the god of wine and sensual abandon, got up to all kinds of mischief. The maenad, as an image, was practically the poster girl of La Belle Époque, expressing that rich, earthy, "joie de vivre," which has come to be seen as so expressive of that era. In our Marvelous Maenad section, we're not all that particular about whether the model is depicted as a woodland sprite, a pagan priestess, or if they're just a couple of Belle Époque chorus girls unwinding after a tough dress rehearsal. The images we list in this section might have been published anytime between the 1890s and the 1930s. Basically, if they're wearing grapes, grapevines, animal skins, or any of the other accoutrements no self-respecting maenad could do without, this is the section they'll end up in. Welcome to the Bacchanal!!! :)
As well as being a lovely image in and of itself, this is a very interesting postcard for a number of reasons. The subject of the image, almost certainly an actress or performer, is a woman of color whose name (probably Swahili or possibly Malagasy), suggests she may have come from the Portuguese colony of Mozambique in Africa, or the French colony of Madagascar off Africa's coast. Though the postcard bears a German stamp and was probably produced in Germany, the image itself is quite probably French, as her costume, with layers of filmy material wrapped low about her shoulders, and her hair, done up in the classic chignon so popular in that period, are distinctly French European in style.
Why do we find this so fascinating? Primarily because—although dance, music, and costume in the France of the late 19th and early 20th centuries was clearly influenced by the cultures of European colonial holdings—it is uncommon to find on postcards images of performers of color who actually come from these colonies.
Theatrical entertainment in France at that time was full of the romantic idealization of foreign cultures. Margaretha McLeod, a young Dutch woman who apparently learned Indonesian dance while locked in a terribly unhappy marriage in the Dutch East Indies, left her husband, made her way to Paris and, in the proud tradition of P.T. Barnum, changed her name to Mata Hari, billed herself as a Javanese princess, became hugely successful with her sensual dance routines, and the rest is history. There were so many others, many images of whom, from time to time, grace the cards we sell in our shop, but almost always they are white Europeans.
Still, though such images as this one are uncommon, we feel it's important to point out that the egalitarian nature of French society was such that performers of all cultural, religious, and ethnic origins made their way to Paris, where many found success and fame. After all, it was in the Paris of the 1920s that Josephine Baker, the famous African American dancer and stage performer, found a broad acceptance and venue for her talent that had not been available to her in the United States of that time.
Finally, we want to acknowledge that we are mere dabblers in history, and certainly not historians. Our focus is limited and narrow, and our short posts far from even remotely complete. So we offer our observations in the spirit of enthusiastic collectors, and hope they are welcomed by fellow enthusiasts and that our over simplifications of complex historical issues and events are forgiven by those more knowledgeable than ourselves.
Marvellous image by Oricelly of Paris, of Mlle. Marinette, while she was employed at the Casino de Paris in the early 1900s. Oricelly was responsible for a number of stunning images published in sepia tones, of which this is certainly one.
Today, Red Poulaine is unveiling the Songs of Salome Collection. This stunning ensemble brings together a choice assortment of luscious vintage postcards featuring Art Nouveau headdresses, jewelry, and costumes, with a special emphasis on the depiction of dangerous female seductresses and dancers, of whom Salome is a prime example.
The 1904 Richard Straussopera Salome, itself based on a German translation of the 1891 Oscar Wilde play, Salomé (written in French to side-step British censorship), has been identified, along with French colonial interests in Africa and Asia, as one possible influence in the development of the oriental dance costume of La Belle Époque.
We here at Red Poulaine have worked very hard to find the most stunning vintage images we can, often spending many hours on any given day in this search. The temptation to hoard the most beautiful images for ourselves was actually the start of this collection, but we find our need to share these images overwhelms that impulse. Lucky you! Because this means that we are opening up a collection that, although small, may just be the most concentrated grouping of Art Nouveau femme fatales inspired by the opera Salome currently available.
And now, for the first time all together on one stage, and with no further ado, we bring you: the Songs of Salome.
