Portrait of French Dancer, Cleo de Merode, by Leopold Reutlinger, circa 1900

22.00 USD, by redpoulaine via Etsy http://ift.tt/1Ggcs4x

The Four Queens of Belle Epoque Paris. Playing Card Images, circa 1900

$195.00 USD, by redpoulaine via Etsy http://ift.tt/1rgUxol

Hurrah! For almost two years we have striven to complete this set of four cards, searching through many, many, collections on a regular basis, with condition being the primary obstacle, and then a short time ago, we managed to gather the most difficult of the quartette, the Cleo de Merode Queen of Hearts, into the fold.

Finally, the four glamorous artistes who in many ways best represent the theatrical romance of the Belle Epoque era are together in our shop. This little set has been our "Maltese Falcon" for some time now, and it gives us great pleasure to share them with you :)

First, Cleo De Merode, clearly the most beloved today of all the Belle Epoque artistes, pictured as the Queen of Hearts. How could it be otherwise?

Our personal favorite, The Queen of Clubs, Mlle. Saharet (born Clarissa, or Clarise, Rose Campbell), can-can dancer extraordinaire, who, if the stories we read are true, began her stage career while little more than a child, along the rough and tumble Barbary Coast of San Francisco, California.

The Queen of Diamonds, Signorina Lina Cavalieri, was for very good reason hailed as the most beautiful woman in the world, but diamonds were her undoing, or so the story goes, as she was tragically killed in an allied bombing raid during WWII, while attempting to rescue her prized jewels from her palatial residence.

Finally, La Belle Otero. The Queen of Spades indeed. The suit of spades corresponds to that of swords in the tarot deck, often considered the most ill omen-ed of the four suits. La Senorita Otero invented a romantic past to mask a humble and tragic childhood. Her path to great success was certainly not an easy one. Probably the most notorious of the four ladies, she is the only one numbered as one of les Grandes Trois, or les Grandes Horizontales, the three great courtesans of the period. And speaking of swords, legend has it that more than a few men lost their lives in duels, or suicide, for want of her love.

Please examine these cards carefully. Note their condition. With the exception of some very minor age spotting on the reverse sides, these are as close to being in pristine condition as any we have found. Our fantasy is that some enthusiastic collector will mount them in a sumptuously gilded frame, behind some bevel cut matte board and heavy glass, so that as a set, they are given their due. We were tempted to do this ourselves, and then to offer them up in that state, but thought that it was probably better to let whoever gets them make their own choices.

As you can see, we are placing a premium value on these four ladies, but we are, frankly, in no hurry to part with them, because when they're gone, we'll have to begin that long, long search, all over again :)

Cleo de Merode, Belle Epoque Interpretive Dancer, as a Charming Aulette, circa 1900

22.00 USD, by redpoulaine via Etsy http://ift.tt/1soTwYz

Lovely Cleo De Merode, Portrait by Reutlinger, circa 1900

18.00 USD, by redpoulaine via Etsy http://ift.tt/1goMwa9

Cléo de Mérode Giveaway Winner!

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.

Cléo de Mérode Giveaway Explanation and Update

We're sure that by now all our regular customers are aware of the fact that we're prepared to give away a postcard in excellent posted condition featuring an image taken by Leopold Reutlinger of Paris of the beautiful Cléo de Mérode to the customer who buys the 1,000th item to be purchased from our Red Poulaine Etsy shop.

 NOT FOR SALE Exquisite Cleo De Merode Giveaway Card, circa 1900

We've recently fielded a few questions about how the giveaway works, and we want to make sure all of you have the answers.

First, cards placed on reserve do not count toward the giveaway. Only actual purchases registered by Etsy as completed sales will count. You can see our total number of sales on the menu at the left side of our shop page, as shown in the following image:

Snapshot of Red Poulaine's shop on Etsy, showing the location of our sales figures.

NOTE: The number (984 sales) shown in this image reflects our sales status as of the moment we captured this image. To obtain the current status, you must click through to check our shop on Etsy.

Second, each card purchased is counted toward our total number of sales. Etsy counts each item purchased as a separate sale, even when there are multiple items in an order. If a customer comes in and purchases three cards in a single order, that will count as three sales. We really have nothing to do with counting the sales, as we are using Etsy's counter to determine the final outcome of the giveaway.

We have had customers come in and purchase more than 20 cards at once. That could happen this next minute, and the level would be reached. Or people could buy them one at a time, right up until the 1000th sale, and that could take quite some time.

What this means for you is that it will be possible for someone, maybe you, to swoop in and purchase multiple cards, bringing our total sales to 1,000 in one fell swoop! Or, you could wait, carefully watching until the next purchase will be the 1,000th. It's a bit like one of those radio call-ins, where the 17th caller wins.

Will you be the lucky customer to buy our 1,000th item and receive the lovely Cléo card? We hope so! And we're watching closely so we can announce the final outcome.