Jules Gervais-Courtellemont's autochromes of life at Versailles

Jules Gervais-Courtellemont (1863-1931) was a French photographer who is most well known for his color autochromes of World War I, which were so popular that Courtellemont had them published in a 12 volume series. In addition to his photography of the battlefield, Courtellemont also took many photographs of scenes of homes, landscapes and people. His composition style, especially when taking photographs of people, was often intimate but deliberately artistic. Courtellemont loved using symbolism, such as ensuring that certain colors or people were distanced or contrasted with others, to create an appearance of structured--and yet realistic--life.

My favorite Courtellemont autochromes are, perhaps not surprisingly, his photographs of some historical players at Versailles, taken in 1925. Unfortunately, I've only been able to find a few of these stunning autochromes without watermarks, but I hope the beauty of these photographs still shines through.

 

Players Portray Life at the Queen’s Hamlet 

image credit: my collection

 

Actors in Period Costumes Perform Among the Flowerbeds of Versailles
image credit: allposters

 

Players Reenact Life at the Queen's Hamlet

image credit: fine art america

 

Costumed Actors Look Toward the Chateau of Versailles from the Garden

image credit: allposters

 

Blindman's Bluff as played in the time of Marie Antoinette

image credit: ebay

 

Players Sit in Gardens Outside Thatched Cottages in the Petit Trianon

image credit: allposters

 

Players at the Temple of Love

image credit: art.com

"It is the head of Mme. de Lamballe they wish to show you."

image credit: my collection

A vintage postcard from the waxwork museum, Musée Grévin, depicting the infamous scene of September 3rd in the Temple, when a mob attempted to show Marie Antoinette the head of the Princesse de Lamballe. Here is the event, as described in Madame Royale's memoirs:

"Several officers of the National Guard and some municipals arrived; the first desired that my father should show himself at the window. The municipals fortunately opposed this; but my father, having asked what was happening, a young officer replied: "Well, if you want to know, it is the head of Mme. de Lamballe they wish to show you." My mother was seized with horror; that was the sole moment when her firmness abandoned her."

A letter from Marie Antoinette to Maria Theresa: Louis XVI is innoculated against smallpox

 image: Louis XVI being innoculated, from Versailles: Countdown to Revolution

image credit: tiny-librarian 

After the death of Louis XV, it was decided that the king and several other members of the royal family would undergo a smallpox innoculation to help protect themselves from the same disease. After her husband underwent the procedure, Marie Antoinette wrote to her mother:

Marie Antoinette to her mother, Maria Theresa, 27 June 1774: 

... the King, my brothers, and the comtesse d'Artois were inoculated [against smallpox] on Saturday; since then they have missed taking a walk at least two or three times a day. The King had a rather high fever for three days; on the day before yesterday the eruption started and the fever went down so that it is now quite gone. He will not have many pustules, but he has some very remarkable ones on his nose, on the wrists, and chest; they are already beginning to turn white.

[The doctors] have made four small incisions; these little openings are suppurating properly, which showed the doctors that the inoculation was completely successful. 

The Countess of Warwick as Marie Antoinette at the Devonshire House Ball

image: the Countess of Warwick as Marie Antoinette 

credit: ©National Portrait Gallery, London

The Devonshire House Costume Ball of 1897 was one of the most anticipated social events of 1897. For this elaborate event, the Duchess of Devonshire instructed her guests to dress in the theme of various courts--mythical and real life. And her guests wasted no time commissioning intricate, elaborate--and quite expensive--costumes from famous houses, such as the house of Worth in Paris.

To stress the importance of this magnificent affair, The London Photographic Firm of Lafayette was invited to take studio-style photographs of the guests in their costumes. Elaborate backdrops, which ran the gamut from a stylized version of the Devonshire Gardens to a Turkish setting with an antique carpet, were created especially for the event. Although some guests, not satisfied with the shots done by the studio at the event, would later return to the Firm for 'retakes.'

 

image: the Countess of Warwick as Marie Antoinette 

credit: ©V&A Lafayette Negative Archive 

The costumes chosen by the ball's guests ranged from mythical goddesses, figures from paintings, and historical kings and queens. Frances Evelyn (Daisy), the countess of Warwick, chose Marie Antoinette as her costume for his elegant and highly anticipated evening. The costume, made by Worth of Paris, was studded with real diamonds and used both gold and antique lace.

The Countess of Warwick's Marie Antoinette costume, as depicted in The Queen, July 10th, 1897

image credit: Russell Harris 

 

image: the Countess of Warwick as Marie Antoinette

credit: ©V&A Lafayette Negative Archive

Daisy's costume, as described by The Times July 3rd report of the event:

'... bodice and paniers of pink and gold flowered brocade and gold lace studded with silver sequins and diamonds, the square-cut neck trimmed with old lace, and chiffon sleeves divided into small puffs with gold lace sparkling with jewels; diamond rivieres were festooned across the front of the bodice. The petticoat was of white satin draped with chiffon scarves edged with gold and sequin lace. The regal train of turquoise velvet was lined with the same and embroidered all over at equal distances with raised gold fleur-de-lis, and fastened on each of the shoulders with gold cord'.

 

image: the Countess of Warwick as Marie Antoinette

credit: ©V&A Lafayette Negative Archive

Did you spot the photographer assistant's hand in the full-length photos?

 

image: the Countess of Warwick as Marie Antoinette

credit: ©V&A Lafayette Negative Archive 

Of course, the Countess of Warwick was not the only guest who chose a figure whom we can associate with Marie Antoinette. The Lafayette Archives have records of at least eight other guests who chose from among Marie Antoinette's friends, family, associates and predecessors as their costume for the night--but I'll leave those for another post!

Marie Antoinette in Advertising

 

image: Galleries des modes, circa 1779. Bibliothèque nationale de France

In one sense, Marie Antoinette has been used in advertising since her ascendant as the pivotal star of Versailles--fashion plates and even dolls bearing her likeness were not just demonstrations of the sumptuousness of the crown's wealth or a record of the Queen's appearance, but a figurative, flashing "Buy Me!" sign to all of the fashionable ladies who could afford to aspire to their sovereign's wardrobe choices.

By the time of the queen's death in 1793, however, her status as a walking billboard for the pricey marchande de modes had long since ended. But her death has not stopped her--or her story--from being used in advertisements that market everything from Victorian-era medicines to chocolates and even highlighter pens.

Marie Antoinette, like many historical figures, featured heavily on many 19th and 20th century advertisement cards. These cards were usually either printed as postcards or trading cards--both a potential way to advertise their product to the masses.

Not surprisingly, Marie Antoinette is often found in advertisements for sweets, such as chocolates. The following advertisements are both selling Chocolat Poulain Orange, a chocolate drink mix made by one of the oldest chocolate brands in France, Chocolat Poulain.

 

 image credit (left, right) chromo history 

It may seem strange to the modern eye, but advertisements--even those for chocolate--were not limited to scenes of pleasure, such as the above card depicting a leisurely stroll at the Petit Trianon. It was fairly common for 19th century advertisements, such as this card advertising the 19th century chocolate brand, Chocolat Devinck, to utilize famous scenes from history for their postcards and other advertisement. This particular ad depicts Marie Antoinette uttering her famous speech at her trial: "If I have not replied it is because Nature itself refuses to answer such a charge laid against a mother. I appeal to all mothers that may be present!"

 

image credit: ebay.fr (defunct auction link)

Eno's Fruit Salts were one of the many products that cropped up in the 19th century which were intended as cure-alls to the 'depravity' of the modern condition of living. They are apparently still sold today. This particular advertisement, one of many of Eno's more dramatic approaches, compares revolution and war to the "outraged nature" of the modern life. The cure? Fruit salts, of course!

 

image credit: ebay

But not every advertisement utilizing Marie Antoinette was so serious--or dramatic. This simple advertising postcard for the shampoo and hair product company, Petrole Hahn, combines the luxury of Marie Antoinette with a soft, romantic illustration inspired by her Lebrun portrait with a rose. A similar card, this time using an illustration of the Princesse de Lamballe, was also released by the company. Who wouldn't want to buy Petrole Hanh, when they could have thick, curly locks like Marie Antoinette?

image credit: my collection

During the mid/early 20th century, Marie Antoinette's name became much more infamous to advertisers. It's during this time period that she seems to have become firmly attached in popular culture to that infamous saying, which of course she never said: "Let them eat cake." The phrase, and its many associations, have not surprisingly played a heavy factor in the usage of Marie Antoinette in advertisements since the mid/early 20th century.

This 1950s or 1960s North West advertisement has a clear message: if it's good enough for the "let them eat cake!" queen of luxury, it's definitely good enough for passengers looking for the maximum comfort in the skies.

image credit: ebay (defunct link)

This 1969 Coca-Cola ad was part of a series of tongue-in-cheek historical advertisements Coca-Cola released around the same time. Other figures in the series included Napoleon and Julius Caeser.

image credit: etsy

This late 1990s or early 2000s advertisement for the Motorola SkyTel pager uses uses the "cake" legend to present another tongue in cheek message: use the wrong pager, and you could lose your head!

 

 

image credit: revolution in fiction

I'll end with one of the most striking uses of Marie Antoinette in contemporary advertisements: a recent add for Stabilo Boss highlighters. I think the image speaks for itself--very effective.

 image credit: best ads on tv

 

Reading Treasure: Now with more treasure!

Reading Treasure is expanding!

I've been toying around with the idea of expanding the topic of this blog for a few months now, and have finally found the time and energy to actually implement my plan. I love posting about books but sometimes there are dry spells without any information about new releases or hardly enough time to create book posts worth sharing and I feel terrible about neglecting this place. So, I've decided to expand my blog to be more inclusive of other Marie Antoinette, French Revolution, 18th century France--and sometimes something more--topics. I'm hoping to eventually get this blog on a more regular posting schedule... maybe even daily! (A girl can dream, can't she?)

I hope you will enjoy the expanded Reading Treasure. In the next few weeks I will not only be posting about broader subjects, but making a few tweaks here and there (I like to think of it as summer cleaning!) to the blog itself. Thank you so much for reading!