Titillating Tidbits About the Life and Times of Marie Antoinette

Decrypting The Secret Letters of Marie Antoinette & Axel von Fersen

2012-02-07T09:12:00.000-08:00

Many people have heard about the reputed love affair between Marie Antoinette and the Swedish Count, Axel von Fersen, but few realize that the pair maintained regular correspondence throughout the royal family's captivity in the Tuileries Palace.

After the disastrous Flight to Varennes (an attempt by the royal family to escape their revolutionary captors and flee to the border of France), Marie Antoinette and her devoted friend continued to write to each other, working earnestly to concealing the subject of their correspondence.

Marie Antoinette wrote several letters to Fersen using invisible (white) ink. Starting in June of 1791, the pair began to employ an elaborate, encrypted code.

Desperate to escape her oppressors and restore the Monarchy in France, Antoinette wrote to Fersen in hopes of learning which foreign leaders might aid her cause. Cognizant of the danger Antoinette would be in if her secret political machinations and desires were discovered by revolutionary leaders, the pair used a polyalphabetic system that, at times, proved taxing for Marie Antoinette. In a letter to Fersen dated November 2, 1791 (her birthday), she writes, "Farewell, I am getting tired of ciphering: this is not my usual occupation and I am always afraid of making mistakes."

AK AMAPVAF AZAPAX means "I Love You"

But not all of the letters exchanged between Marie Antoinette and Count Axel von Fersen were of a treasonous, political nature. Some of the messages were more personal.

In one of Antoinette's letters, dated June 28, 1791, we are offered a glimpse at the imprisoned queen's strength, as well as her touching concern for the safety of her dear friend. For years, this letter remained only partially decrypted. Here is what the letter was believed to have said before experts were able to finish decrypting the letter: "I am alive...Oh, how I anxious I have been for you, and how sorry I am about all you must have suffered in having no news from us. May heaven grant that this letter reaches you. Do not write to me, this would compromise all of us and above all do not return under any circumstances. It is know that it was you who helped us to get away from here and all would be lost if you should show yourself. We are guarded day and night. I do not care...Do not be troubled on my account, nothing will happen to me. The National Assembly will show leniency. Farewell...I cannot write any more."

(Sadly, this letter also illustrates the royal family's denial about the gravity of their situtation. At the time she put pen to paper, Antoinette genuinely believed they would be set free. Within two years, Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette would bare their necks to the National Razor.)

When cryptologists finished decrypting the above letter using a key found in Axel von Fersen's private papers, they found it said this:

"I am alive here my beloved, for the reason to adore you. Oh, how I anxious I have been for you, and how sorry I am about all you must have suffered in having no news from us. May heaven grant that this letter reaches you. Do not write to me, this would compromise all of us and above all do not return under any circumstances. It is know that it was you who helped us to get away from here and all would be lost if you should show yourself. We are guarded day and night. I do not care. You are not here. Do not be troubled on my account, nothing will happen to me. The National Assembly will show leniency. Farewell the most loved of men. Be quiet if you can. Take care of yourself for myself. I cannot write any more but nothing in the world could stop me from adoring you until death."

For more information about the encoded letters of Marie Antoinette and Axel von Fersen, please reference the work of Jacques Patarin and Valerie Nachef.

Tuesday's Treasure: Marie Antoinette's Ice Cup Stand

2012-01-31T05:09:00.000-08:00

Sèvres Footed Ice Cup Stand from the service de la Reine

This ice-cup stand, designed to hold twelve tasses à glace, was made by Sèvres for Marie Antoinette as part of a 239-piece dinner set. It was delivered to the queen on August 26, 1874.

According to Christie's Auctions, "In January 1784, Marie-Antoinette commissioned from Sèvres a sumptuous dinner service for her use at Versailles. However, upon its completion in May of that year, it was given instead by Louis XVI to Gustav III as a diplomatic gift commemorating the Swedish king's visit to France. Not to be long denied, Marie-Antoinette received her own service, in the exact same pattern and design and of the same composition plus an additional 24 large oval and round platters, on 26 August 1784. Five years later, a third service in the same pattern, described in the factory's records as décoration riche en couleurs et riche en or de la reine was commissioned by Marie-Antoinette's sister-in-law, the Comtesse d'Artois."

The Salon of the Grand Couvert - Didier Rykner

Engraving the King's Death in Memories

2012-01-21T03:42:00.000-08:00

This engraving, based on a painting by Jean Francois Garneray, shows the king standing atop the turret of the Temple Prison. He's wearing a powdered wig, waistcoat, stockings and stain breeches. His casual stance lending no hint at the tragedy unfolding.

Here is an engraving of a proud Louis XVI wearing a velvet waistcoat with the Cross of the Order of Saint Louis pinned to his chest. Although the original engraving was done in 1775, it was reworked in 1792, at which time the Pyrigian cap (bonnet rouge) was added. The reworking and reissuing of this engraving was to commemorate the invasion of the Tuileries Palace. On that day, the sans-culottes forced the king to place the bonnet rouge on his head.

This engraving by Alexander Tardieu is entitled Les adieux de Louis XVI and depicts the king as his gives his final farewells to his wife, children, and sister. The gentleman lunging forward is Jean-Baptiste Clery, the king's faithful valet de chambre. Through the glass doors one can spy the sans-culottes and various Municipal Officers gathered to witness the scene.

This is engraving came out after the king's execution and depicts him kneeling on the prison floor as he listens to L'Abbe de Firmont's mass. Also kneeling, Jean-Baptist Clery, the king's faithful valet de chambre.

This engraving was printed in 1793 by revolutionary presses. The caption describes Louis Capet mounting the scaffold with hands tied behind his back. It says he observes the scene around him for a few minutes. Then, his confessor tells him to go, that heaven awaits him.

The Martyrdom of King Louis XVI by Isaac Cruikshank. Louis addresses Heaven, proclaiming, "Forgive my enemies. I die innocent!" Images of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette produced during the Bourbon Restoration were highly romanticized, often portray the tragic king and queen as martyrs.

And finally, an engraving produced by Chez Hocquart of 64 rue Saint Jacques in Paris, to commemorate the internment of the remains* of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette in the Basilica of Saint Denis.

*The naked bodies of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI were thrown into unmarked graves and covered in quicklime. By the time of the Bourbon Restoration, the quicklime had reduced their corpses to a few bones and some grayish matter. There is some debate among scholars as to whether or not the bodies exhumed were really those of the king and queen. The exhumation and reburial was used as propaganda by the Bourbons.

The Death of Louis XVI

2012-01-21T03:37:00.000-08:00

The execution of Louis XVI

"Gentlemen, I am innocent of everything of which I am accused. I wish that my blood may be able to cement the happiness of the French."

Last words of Louis XVI

The National Convention declared Louis XVI guilty of high treason and on January 20, 1793, they condemned him to death. The date of execution was set for January 21, 1793.

Louis spent his last evening saying goodbye to Marie Antoinette, their children, and his faithful sister, Princess Elisabeth. According to the king's valet de chambre who was present, it was an agonizing, heart-rendering scene. Marie Antoinette and Princess Elisabeth wailed. The king's daughter, Madame Royale, fainted at her father's feet. To make the parting easier, the king lied and promised his family he would visit with them the next morning.

The king retired to his room where he had a last meal and then fell into bed, exhuasted. He woke shortly before five in the morning. After dressing, he dispersed of his personal belongings (his seal, ring, looking glass, and locks of hair) and then took part in a brief mass, officiated by the L'Abbé de Firmont.

At eight o'clock 1,200 mounted guardsmen arrived at the Temple Prison to escort the dethroned king to the Place de la Révolution. It would take the king two hours to travel the short distance, his journey hampered by angry mobs clogging the narrow streets hoping to catch a glimpse of him or offer a final taunt.

Louis asked Henry Essex Edgeworth, also known as L'Abbé Edgeworth de Firmont, to accompany him. The priest recorded the event, which was later published in a slender edition titled A Journal of the Terror: Being an Account of the Occurrences in the Temple During the Confinement of Louis XVI by M. Cléry, the King's Valet-De-Chambre; Together With, a Description of the Last Hours of the King by the Abbe De Firmont . (I was fortunate enough to purchase a first edition copy of this enthralling journal several years ago. I highly encourage those interested in Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI to obtain a copy for themselves.)

An Account of the King's Final Moments by L'Abbé de Firmont:
"The King, finding himself seated in the carriage, where he could neither speak to me nor be spoken to without witness, kept a profound silence. I presented him with my breviary, the only book I had with me, and he seemed to accept it with pleasure: he appeared anxious that I should point out to him the psalms that were most suited to his situation, and he recited them attentively with me. The gendarmes, without speaking, seemed astonished and confounded at the tranquil piety of their monarch, to whom they doubtless never had before approached so near.

The procession lasted almost two hours; the streets were lined with citizens, all armed, some with pikes and some with guns, and the carriage was surrounded by a body of troops, formed of the most desperate people of Paris. As another precaution, they had placed before the horses a number of drums, intended to drown any noise or murmur in favour of the King; but how could they be heard? Nobody appeared either at the doors or windows, and in the street nothing was to be seen, but armed citizens - citizens, all rushing towards the commission of a crime, which perhaps they detested in their hearts.

The carriage proceeded thus in silence to the Place de Louis XV, and stopped in the middle of a large space that had been left round the scaffold: this space was surrounded with cannon, and beyond, an armed multitude extended as far as the eye could reach. As soon as the King perceived that the carriage stopped, he turned and whispered to me, 'We are arrived, if I mistake not.'

My silence answered that we were. One of the guards came to open the carriage door, and the gendarmes would have jumped out, but the King stopped them, and leaning his arm on my knee, 'Gentlemen,' said he, with the tone of majesty, 'I recommend to you this good man; take care that after my death no insult be offered to him - I charge you to prevent it.'

… As soon as the King had left the carriage, three guards surrounded him, and would have taken off his clothes, but he repulsed them with haughtiness- he undressed himself, untied his neckcloth, opened his shirt, and arranged it himself. The guards, whom the determined countenance of the King had for a moment disconcerted, seemed to recover their audacity. They surrounded him again, and would have seized his hands.

'What are you attempting?' said the King, drawing back his hands. 'To bind you,' answered the wretches.
'To bind me,' said the King, with an indignant air. 'No! I shall never consent to that: do what you have been ordered, but you shall never bind me. . .'

The path leading to the scaffold was extremely rough and difficult to pass; the King was obliged to lean on my arm, and from the slowness with which he proceeded, I feared for a moment that his courage might fail; but what was my astonishment, when arrived at the last step, I felt that he suddenly let go my arm, and I saw him cross with a firm foot the breadth of the whole scaffold; silence, by his look alone, fifteen or twenty drums that were placed opposite to me; and in a voice so loud, that it must have been heard it the Pont Tournant, I heard him pronounce distinctly these memorable words:

'I die innocent of all the crimes laid to my charge; I Pardon those who have occasioned my death; and I pray to God that the blood you are going to shed may never be visited on France.'

He was proceeding, when a man on horseback, in the national uniform, and with a ferocious cry, ordered the drums to beat. Many voices were at the same time heard encouraging the executioners. They seemed reanimated themselves, in seizing with violence the most virtuous of Kings, they dragged him under the axe of the guillotine, which with one stroke severed his head from his body. All this passed in a moment. The youngest of the guards, who seemed about eighteen, immediately seized the head, and showed it to the people as he walked round the scaffold; he accompanied this monstrous ceremony with the most atrocious and indecent gestures. At first an awful silence prevailed; at length some cries of 'Vive la Republique!' were heard. By degrees the voices multiplied and in less than ten minutes this cry, a thousand times repeated became the universal shout of the multitude, and every hat was in the air."

Terrible Tidbits About the Death of Louis XVI:
When Louis attempted to address the crowd which had gathered to witness his execution, Antoine-Joseph Santerre, a general in the National Guard, ordered a drum roll, thereby drowning out the king's words.
The blade fell at precisely 10:22 a.m.
Louis XVI was executed by Chief Executioner, Charles Henri Sanson.
Sanson executed nearly 3,000.
Sanson brought his son to witness the king's execution.
Sanson's son would serve as Marie Antoinette's executioner.
Louis XVI was executed at the Place de la Revolution; today it is known as the Place de la Concorde.
Once the blade fell and the body was removed, the crowd pushed forward. Many dipped their handkerchiefs in the king's blood so they would have souvenirs of the "glorious" day. Click here to read more about the morbid souvenirs made of Louis XVI's blood.
After his execution, Louis XVI's corpse was transported to the Madeleine Church Cemetary.
Louis XVI's body was thrown into a pit of quicklime and his head was placed between his legs.
After the king's execution, L'Abbé de Firmont remained in France. Despite the mortal danger it presented, he continued a correspondence with the king's sister, Princess Elisabeth.
On January 21, 1815, the remains of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were exhumed and reburied in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Edme Gaulle and Pierre Petitot sculpted statues of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette which are now part of a memorial in the Basilica of Saint-Denis.
Memorial of Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette's Would-Be Friend: Marie Sophie Hélène Béatrice de France

2012-01-17T09:58:00.000-08:00

Princess Sophie

On July 9, 1786, Marie Antoinette woke with vague pains in her abdomen and a general feeling of unwellness. Although heavy with child, she doubted her discomfort was being caused by labor pains.

The pains persisted, increasing in their urgency. Finally, at four-thirty in the afternoon the various state officials and courtiers were summoned to witness the glorious event (as required by protocol) .

Three hours later, at seven thirty in the evening, Marie Sophie Hélène Béatrice de France, the fourth child of King Louis XVI and Queen Marie Antoinette was born.

Sadly, this petite princess would not live to celebrate her first birthday. She died of tuberculosis on June 19, 1787.

Her death would plunge Marie Antoinette into deep despair. According to Madame Campan, the queen's first-lady-in-waiting and most trusted servant, Marie Antoinette would come to view Princess Sophie's death as the first in a string of misfortunes.

Did you know...

Marie Antoinette cut her strawberry-blonde hair shortly before the birth of her fourth child. The change in "do" shook her self-confidence and she would often nervously run her fingers through her short locks.
Some have speculated that Sophie was actually Axel von Fersen's child?
Though most kings refused to rejoice the birth of a female child, Louis XVI was delighted over the birth of his daughter.
Comte Mercy, Austria's Ambassador to France, wrote to Empress Maria Theresa that he believed Marie Antoinette would give birth at the end of July, causing some to speculate that Princess Sophie was born prematurely.
Princess Sophie began suffering violent convulsions five days before her death, triggered, some suggest, by the pain of teething.
The Duchesse de Polignac, Governess of the Royal Children of France and Marie Antoinette's dear friend, was touring England when Princess Sophie died. She was, therefore, not available to provide comfort to the grieving queen.
Marie Antoinette turned to her sister-in-law, Madame Elisabeth, for comfort. She even invited the king's sister to view Princess Sophie's little corpse. (An unwelcome and unhappy invitation, to be sure)
Marie Antoinette was devastated over the loss of her fourth child, Sophie-Béatrice. When someone suggested she couldn’t have been too attached to a child who had only lived a year, the Queen responded, "Don't forget that she would have been my friend."
While still grieving the loss of her youngest child, Marie Antoinette suffered cruel attacks over her appearance. Like the modern day magazines that slap unflattering pictures of overweight celebrities on their covers, Marie Antoinette was publicly called fat and unattractive. Even her brother Joseph took a jab, saying that she had "the fine face of a good fat German."
It typically cost 350,000 livres to bury a royal child of France, but because of the wretched state of the economy, Louis XVI & Marie Antoinette opted for a less elaborate burial for their beloved youngest child.
An autopsy was performed on Princess Sophie, during which it was discovered that the unfortunate princess was underdeveloped. It was also noted that she had been about to cut three baby teeth.
Princess Sophie was buried at the Royal Basilica of Saint Denis north of Paris.

Tuesday's Treasure: 18th Century Fan

2012-01-17T07:37:00.000-08:00

If only I had known about this little fan sooner, I might have placed it on my Christmas Wish List!

This charming fan was sold at auction at Christie's in London for $1,233 (£750) - a bargain when one considers its historical significance. The fan was made in the 18th Century. The center images are that of Marie Antoinette and Louis, when they were still dauphine and dauphin of France. The silk leaf has been embellished with sequins; the sticks are ivory.

One wonders who originally owned this fan...

Was it purchased as a souvenir by a young Englishman while on his Grand Tour?

Did a bourgeois cafe owner, hopeful tha that dauphin and his beautiful Austrian wife would be the answer to his nation's woes, buy it to give to his wife?

Did it once dangle off the slender wrist of a powdered and pampered woman of minor noble birth?

What do you think? Who do you imagine owned this fan?

Marie Antoinette & The Wine Grower

2012-01-11T09:07:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I posted a piece about Marie Antoinette's Flaws. I explained she could be thoughtless, selfish, childish, and spontaneous. Today, I would like to share a story about one of her spontaneous acts that was thoughtful and selfless.

On a warm autumn day in 1773, Marie Antoinette and a few members of her coterie settled themselves upon the velvet squabs of a gilded carriage, excited to be taking part in a royal stag hunt. The women neatly arranged the folds of their voluminous gowns, the royal hounds bayed, the horses pranced and nickered, and then, they were off!

The careless, carefree royal party thundered on, anxious to catch their prey. Along the way, one of the riders accidentally ran over a wine grower who been toiling in a field. The unfortunate, unsuspecting man was seriously wounded.

Few in the royal party showed much concern for the peasant, but Marie Antoinette was deeply moved. The dauphine ordered the postilion to stop the carriage, then she leaped out and tended to the wounded man. Later, she would provide financial support for the man's family until he was well enough to work again.

Marie Antoinette's act of compassion was immortalized in a pencil and ink drawing by Jean-Michel Moreau the Younger. The print, titled Act of Kindness by the Dauphine, October 16, 1773, now hangs in a museum in Vienna.

Tuesday's Treasure: Marie Antoinette's Books

2012-01-10T04:07:00.000-08:00

Can you believe these beautiful Morrocan leather bound books that once belonged to Marie Antoinette were sold a few years ago at auction?

As a writer and ardent admirer of the French queen, I can't ever imagine owning such treasures - let alone parting with them!

The Latin and French books are bound in citron moroccan leather and have triple gilt fillet borders. The covers are stamped with Marie Antoinette's coat of arms.

The titles are:

L'Office de la semaine sainte, à l'usage de la maison du roi by the Abbot of Bellegarde

Les Plaideurs by Jean Baptiste Racine

Officium parvum B. Mariæ Virginis, ad usum ordinis Cisterciensis.

Histoire des Celtes...nouvelle édition by Simon Pelloutier

Sans-Culottes: Connoisseurs of Flesh

2012-01-09T12:37:00.000-08:00

In this political cartoon titled Un Petit Souper a la Parisienne (or A Family of Sans-Culottes Refreshing after the Fatigues of the Day), the Revolutionaries are portrayed as brutal, blood-hungry cannibals. James Gillray, a British printmaker and political cartoonist, published Un Petit Souper a la Parisienne in 1792. Gillray, a conservative who opposed the French Revolution, produced hundreds of cartoons lampooning the French, especially members of the Jacobins and Cordeliers.

Political cartoons were popular during the French Revolution and the portrayal of Revolutionaries as blood-thirsty, crazed monsters was quite common.

In Gillray's Un Petit Souper a la Parisienne, the common (French) family is feasting on the corpses of noblemen and women (note the corpse beneath the table wearing the fancy, buckled shoes, stockings, and breeches worn by nobility). The diagram on the wall over the fireplace shows the proper way to butcher an aristo. A body hangs from a lamppost and noble heads upon pikes can be seen outside the door.

Also note the sans-culotte children gathered around the bucket of entrails; an overt suggestion that those ruling Paris in 1792 were even weaning their children on violence.

Further Reading:

Flatulent Fatties & Monsieur Fancy Pants: Political Cartoons of the Eighteenth Century

Marie Antoinette's Prayer Book

2012-01-02T06:02:00.000-08:00

James L. Stanfield/National Geographic/Getty Images

This photograph is of Marie Antoinette's last inscription in her prayer book. On October 16, 1793, at half past four in the morning, the weary, frightened queen scribbled these words in the back of her prayer book, "My God, have pity on me! My eyes have no more tears to cry for you my poor children; adieu! adieu!"

The slender prayer book was printed in 1757 and bound in olive green Moroccan leather and stamped with gold lacework. Inside, it is stamped with the decree "Office of the Divine Providence for the use for the Royal House of Saint Louis at St. Cyr and of all the Faithful."

The prayer book was one of the few possessions allowed the queen in her final, dismal days in the Conciergerie.

One can imagine her flipping through the tissue thin vellum pages in an anxiety fueled desire to find words of comfort.

Then, scratching out those few, anguish filled words in hopes they would bring some comfort to her children.

Sadly, her children never saw her final message. The book was delivered to Robespierre, who kept it, and other mementos of the royal family, hidden in a secret compartment beneath his bed.

(Information gathered from various sources including New York Times article titled Marie Antoinette's Prayer Book Found, August, 11, 1912)

Marie Antoinette's Flaws

2012-01-02T03:40:00.000-08:00

I have been accused of romanticizing or waxing poetic about Marie Antoinette. That simply is not the case. I do not have rose-colored glasses on where the Queen is concerned. For me, Marie Antoinette is a multi-faceted, complex person. My view of her is multi-dimensional; I recognize her positive characteristics and cringe at her negative attributes.

I have written dozens of articles about Marie Antoinette's sharp sense of style, her unswerving loyalty, the bravery she displayed in her final days. I have not discussed her flaws - that is, until now...

Marie Antoinette could be thoughtless Knowing how much his wife delighted in the amusements of simple life, Louis XVI decided to make Marie Antoinette a spinning wheel. After spending hours in his workshop constructing the wheel, he proudly presented it to her. In To The Scaffold, Carolly Erickson writes, "She was charmed, she thanked him warmly - and as soon as he had gone, gave the spinning wheel away." One imagines the big, awkward king much like a child proudly showing off his artwork. His reward for his thoughtful efforts? A polite smile and a pat on the rear as he was scooted out the door.

Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had different interests and kept different schedules. Marie Antoinette liked chit-chat, a swirl of activity, and staying up late. Louis was uncomfortable engaging in idle or pointless conversation, was content to work with his hands, and liked to be to bed promptly at 11 PM. One night, early in their marriage, Marie Antoinette contrived a plan to get him to bed early so she could go out on the town. With the help of Louis' younger brother, she moved the arms of the clock to a later hour. As the clock chimed its eleventh chime, Louis bid her goodnight and departed. Marie Antoinette, perhaps feeling giddy at the success of the ruse, might have clapped her hands and giggled. Whether she had intended it or not, she had made her husband the butt of a joke - a joke that would be repeated throughout Versailles and Paris.

Marie Antoinette did not always lead by example. Madame Royale, Marie Antoinette's daughter, writes in her journal about a particular Christmas when the Queen encouraged her children to give their gifts away to the needy. She wanted to make them aware that there were less fortunate souls in the world and that it was the duty of their station to look out for those souls. These are lofty and admirable principles to espouse, but they must be taught through action and deed not just word. Although the Queen was charitable, even giving money out of her purse to support various hospitals and orphans, she made no real sacrifices. While people were starving in the streets of Paris, the Queen was hosting lavish soirees and building her expensive, beloved le hameau on the grounds of Versailles. She went through slippers, gowns, and diamonds as if they were limitless resources and rights of her passage.

The young Marie Antoinette was childish and tactless. Marie Antoinette, the outsider from Austria, had a difficult time settling into her new home at Versailles. Because of her heritage, she was hated by various factions, including Louis XV's mistress, Madame du Barry. Did she rise above it by turning the other cheek? Absolutely not! One story tells of Marie Antoinette giggling behind her fan at some of her enemies while at the funeral of Louis XV! (Click here to read another story about Marie Antoinette's campaign against Madame du Barry)

Marie Antoinette was blindly loyal. Oftentimes, Marie Antoinette would show loyalty and favor to those who didn't deserve it. Marie Antoinette and the Comte d'Artois, the King's youngest brother, became friends early on. Artois was a profligate, a lover of women and games of chance. In spite of the King's strong disapproval, he encouraged Marie Antoinette to place high wagers on horse races and card games. Marie Antoinette's friendship with this libertine was the source of speculation and cruel gossip; she was accused of being sexually involved with her brother-in-law. In the end, her friendship with Artois would prove as insubstantial and pointless as a game of faro. He deserted his brother, sister, niece, nephew, and sister-in-law when the French Revolution began. At the King's request, he fled France. The Duchesse de Polignac, one of Marie Antoinette's close friends, was the perfect example of the courtier leech. Once attached to Marie Antoinette, she sucked her nearly dry (whether intentionally or not)! Polignac, a beautiful, delicate, and by some accounts, warm-hearted woman was married to a spend-thrift and involved with a violent and abusive lover. Her family was impoverished. Marie Antoinette, sympathizing with the young woman's tenuous position, appointed her First Equerry and awarded her an annual salary of 12,000 livres. Polignac had an apartment at the head of the marble staircase near Marie Antoinette's rooms. In no time, most of her family and her lover had obtained positions and pensions. These appointments would anger faithful courtiers, jealous nobles, and starving peasants. Marie Antoinette's blind devotion to the Duchesse de Polignac would prompt some to suggest the two were involved in a lesbian relationship; a rumor that would cause incomparable damage to the queen's reputation.

The Duchesse de Gramont...Grammont...Gramont!

2011-12-29T12:16:00.000-08:00

The duchesse de Gramont-Caderousse

Several years ago, I visited the Nelson-Atkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri and discovered a portrait of Marie-Gabrielle de Sinéty, the Duchesse de Gramont-Caderousse by Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun.

I have gazed upon thousands of portraits in my travels and throughout my years of research, but something about this lady's face captured me. Perhaps it was her delicate nose, flushed cheeks, and open, expressive brown eyes that gave her an air of innocence and insouciance.

I confess, the fashionista in me coveted her black velvet jacket with the slashed sleeves. I adored the way the sleeves were fastened to the jacket with red silk bows. Who doesn't find an ensemble in red and black utterly dramatic and appealing?

But there was something else that drew me to the portrait, that had me standing there, gazing at it for nearly a quarter of an hour. A familiarity that seemed to haunt me...

A Faithful Friend
I would soon learn that the Duchesse de Gramont-Caderousse was one of Marie Antoinette's friends, a trusted member of her coterie. This discovery sparked imaginations of the women strolling arm-in-arm through gardens at le hameau, pausing to inhale the perfumed aroma of a rose.

A few years after first gazing at the Duchesse's lovely face, I met a brown-haired French beauty who possessed startlingly similar expressive brown eyes and an equally delicate nose. I felt an instant familiarity, as I had felt when gazing at the Vigee Le Brun painting. I didn't know it then, but the French beauty would become my best friend, the most trusted member of my coterie.

But this is not another of my stories about the startling nature of serendipity. It is not a tale of odd coincidences.

The Two Duchesses
This is a piece about two rather privileged duchesses. One would live a long life, the other would end her privileged days with her neck in a blood spattered lunette (the moon shaped recess where victims of the guillotine would place their neck). Both would witness unspeakable violence.

After discovering Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun's portrait of Marie-Gabrielle de Sinéty, I found myself wanting to know more about the pretty duchesse. Naturally, I turned to Souvenirs: The Memoirs of Elizabeth Vigee Le Brun.

The artist confessed that she had a prejudice against hair powder and went on to write, "I persuaded the lovely Duchesse de Grammont-Caderousse not to wear any when she was painted. Her hair was as black as night, and I parted it in front and arranged it in careless locks. After my seance, which finished at dinner-time, the Duchesse did not alter her head-dress, and went to the theater without altering it. Such a pretty woman setting the fashion caused it soon to become popular."

I noticed that Vigee Le Brun spelled the duchesse's name Grammont and not Gramont, as had been printed on the plaque in the museum. With no disrespect intended toward the venerated curators at the Nelson-Atkins, I assumed they had spelled the duchesse's name wrong and elected to continue my research for the Duchesse de Grammont-Caderousse - with two M's.

Vigee Le Brun does not mention the lovely duchesse again, so I turned to Simon Schama's Citizens. Then, on page 827, I read something that made my heart drop.

"Sharing their tumbril were the Princesse de Lubomirski, the Duchesses de Chatelet and de Grammont..."

Grammont. Spelled with two M's.

If the Duchesse de Grammont had been in a tumbril (a cart used to transport the condemned to the guillotine), she had surely died during the Revolution. I shuddered to imagine that sweet-faced woman, with her basket of fruits and flowers, a victim of such a horrific death. I imagined her red satin slippers slipping on the blood soaked sawdust, her wide eyes glistening with tears.

The image filled me with an incomprehensible melancholia.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view), there were two duchesses of similar name. The Duchesse de Gramont-Caderousse and the Duchesse de Grammont (also, confusingly, spelled Gramont, with one M).

A little more sleuthing and I learned the Marie-Gabrielle de Sinéty, AKA the Duchesse de Gramont-Caderousse, was not the duchesse in the tumbril.

The Duchesse de Gramont

The Other Duchesse Gramont
The lady who - on a bright Spring day in 1794 - found herself an unfortunate occupant in a rough wooden cart, crushed between a haughty princess and a trembling duchesse, was none other than Béatrix de Choiseul-Stainville, duchesse de Grammont. Béatrix was not nearly as lovely as Marie-Gabrielle. Her portrait was not painted by Vigee Le Brun but by Alexander Roslin, an eighteenth century Swedish court painter.

Less-than-lovely Béatrix was the wife of the duc de Gramont and the daughter of François Joseph de Choiseul, marquis de Stainville, a diplomat. She is mentioned in the memoirs of the lothario, soldier, and politician, Armand Louis de Gontaut-Biron, the duc de Lauzun. (In fact, Lauzun once fancied himself in love with Beatrix). Madame de Grammont is mentioned in twenty different passages in Lauzun's Memoirs.

She was also a member of Marie Antoinette's inner-circle, having proved her loyalty early on in a skirmish with Madame du Barry that had tongues all around Versailles wagging! One night at the theater, Béatrix refused to make room for Marie Antoinette's rival, Madame du Barry. The king's mistress complained and had Béatrix banished from court. Marie Antoinette appealed to her grandfather-in-law and Béatrix was allowed to return.

If one searches, there are quite a few references to the Duchesse de Grammont/Gramont (for it is spelled both ways) in various contemporary memoirs and letters.

This less-than-lovely duchesse made a mark that the passage of time did little to erase.

The Elusive Duchesse de Gramont-Caderousse
Vigee Le Brun's lovely duchesse, with almond shaped eyes and slightly parted lips as if in the throes of a self-conscious smile, proves to be far more elusive. Time, it would seem, has nearly obliterated her mark.

She was born in Marie-Gabrielle de Sinéty in 1760. She married André Joseph Hippolyte de Gramont-Vacheres, the duc de Gramont-Caderousse in February of 1779. The duc, her husband, was Lord of Cap-Cornu, governor of La Tour-de-Crest, and a Knight of Malta. They had four children. From her family tree, I learned three of her children grew to adulthood and had children of their own. She died on April 24, 1832 at the Château de Caderousse.

There are no memoirs detailing her exploits through Europe or her dangerous liaisons with dashing lotharios. I could unearth no clues as to how she survived the bloody Revolution that took the lives of her king, queen, and the other Duchesse de Grammont.

Her portrait is her enduring mark. Her secrets lie hidden in her dreamy gaze. Her slightly parted lips tease us with tales that will not be told...

Vigee Le Brun's portrait of the duchesse de
Gramont-Caderousse in the fabulous
Nelson-Atkins Museum, Kansas City.
Shot yesterday by Leah Marie Brown.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW A LARGE, DETAILED IMAGE OF VIGEE LE BRUN'S PAINTING OF THE DUCHESSE DE GRAMONT-CADEROUSSE

Marie Madness: Confessions of a Spontaneous Crafter

2011-12-07T15:55:00.000-08:00

I'll admit it: I am a seasonal Martha Addict. Each year, as autumn brushes the world in an ochre hue, I find myself inexplicably drawn to Martha Stewart, that peddler of crafty pastimes. I know I should focus my energies on writing and home obligations, but the temptation becomes too great. As the air turns crisp and crackly leaves litter the sidewalks, I suddenly start watching Martha's television show and reading her magazines. I will sit with a plate of Fuji Caramel Apple Cookies with Brown Sugar Icing (a Martha recipe) balanced precariously on my lap, watching as the Gandhi of Gardening, the Diva of Domesticity single-handedly builds a dovecote out of Popsicle sticks and fills it with birds she humanely captures with silken ropes or bakes a million puff pastries which she then uses to recreate the Taj Mahal.

I've watched Martha Stewart successfully try her hand at cake decorating, sewing, scrap booking, woodworking, pottery, painting, and gardening, and I always walk away thinking, "I could do that! I should do that!"

Usually, I don't.

I am not a crafty sorta gal. It's not that I don't like crafts, I'm just not that good at them. (Truthfully, I have never been good at crafts. My first grade teacher wrote one, terse word on my report card to describe my efforts with scissors: "hopeless". I failed my high school Home Ec class when the elastic on the shorts I was required to make and wear to broke. Humiliating experience, that.) Some might even say I am artistically challenged when it comes to crafting.

But something strange happens to me in the Fall. Maybe it is the bright colored leaves on all of the trees that sparks an irrepressible optimism in me; or maybe there's some sort of bacteria in autumn-harvested apples that affects the memory ( I do eat a lot of those Fuji Apple Cookies and consume my fair share of cider). Whatever the explanation, each October I find myself standing in Michaels Craft Store, clutching the handle of a basket laden with hot glue sticks, glitter paint, and assorted accouterments, thinking, "If Martha can do it, so can I!"

One year, Martha made a stunning Christmas tree centerpiece using Styrofoam, metallic ribbons, and jewel tipped pins. It seemed simple enough: cut the ribbons to a pre-measured length, loop them, stick them into the Styrofoam cone and then - VOILA! - you have a stunning hand-crafted Christmas Tree that will wow your family and mystify your neighbors.

I love Martha, but she lied. (Forgive the offensive language but the Ribbon Tree Debacle still upsets me) I cut the ribbon into premeasured strips, looped them, stuck them in the Styrofoam cone, but there was no VOILA! I did not get a stunning centerpiece. My lopsided tree with tattered, randomly pinned ribbons looked like the artistic endeavor of a drunk toddler (not that I've ever seen a drunk toddler). It was not a good thing.

Since the Ribbon Tree Debacle, there have been German glass glitter covered gourds (messy, expensive, and, frankly, tacky), handmade Chenille slippers (True story: I tried to donate them to a local homeless shelter for teens but the coordinator kindly rejected the slippers because she said they were "sad"), and assorted embellished canisters, chocolate candies, and dipped candles.

It was my painful and scarring attempt at candle-making that had me vowing to break my Martha Habit and start living a clean life, free from the clutches of that crafty, diabolical Guru of Glitter. I told myself my pride was greater than any transitory nesting instinct.

This October, I watched the leaves change from Granny Smith green to Candy Apple red all the while fighting the nefarious desire to watch Martha. There would be no marzipan Mayflower on my table at Thanksgiving, nor would there be a side dish of humiliation as another of my crafts crumbled, imploded, or spontaneously burst into flames before my eyes.

The technicolor days of October faded into the monochromatic days of November without a single gourd glittered or bedazzled. I didn't watch Martha on television. I resisted the urge to listen to her on Sirius radio. I averted my gaze when I walked down the magazine aisle in the grocery store. As I packed up my turkey platter and gravy boat, I felt positively euphoric that I had nearly made it through the Fall without attempting a craft. I imagined myself at a 12-Step Program, standing before a semi-circle of fellow addicts, saying, "My name is Leah Marie and I have been clean of crafting for 11 months and 8 days."

But before you sound the applause and cue the cheers, notice I used the word nearly.

That's right, brothers and sisters, I recently suffered a relapse.

Earlier this week, I stepped off the wagon and into a Hobby Lobby. Like any addict, my overwhelming longing lead me down the path of temptation and delivered me far from the straight and narrow.

Although I hadn't gone to the mecca of crafting stores on a Martha Mission, I was still there to satisfy my twisted needs (to craft).

A few years ago I saw a beautiful flocked Christmas tree decorated with baubles inspired by my beloved queen, Marie Antoinette. Since then, I have dreamt of having a similar tree.

So there I was, pushing a squeaky, right-pulling cart through the cluttered aisles of my local Hobby Lobby, silently telling myself that I had nothing to feel guilty about, that one little indulgence did not an addict make.

Soon, I was happily skipping through the aisles, capriciously tossing bottles of paints and ornaments into the cart, imagining the grand, opulent flocked tree adorned with baubles that would grace my office.

It was going to be magnificent, marvelous, très fantastique! Maybe I would even send a photo to Martha herself...and she would be so impressed she would invite me to be on her show...and we would go to Laudree after filming to sip tea and eat macaroons!

Before I knew it, my cart was loaded with an expensive tree and hundreds of dollars in baubles and bling. That's when I realized I was in trouble, standing alone, watching the wagon drive away from me. The first step to recovery is acknowledging you're sick, right?

So, I flagged down an older woman with silvery hair and a kindly smile.

"Help me, won't you?" I asked, a note of desperation in my voice.

I explained to her my tendency to over-commit, overspend, and over-estimate my abilities when it came to crafting and then I told her all about my passion for Marie Antoinette and the beautiful baroque Christmas tree.

She politely listened to my confession and then tilted her head and said, "Does it have to be a tree? What if you made a wreath instead? It's smaller, easier to manage, and much cheaper."

I swear a beam of light shone down from Heaven onto the head of that dear soul. And I am pretty certain I heard a choir of angels singing.

What she said next had to have been divinely inspired.

"Just plan it out and take your time, Dear, and I am sure it will look lovely."
I thanked the woman, returned most of the items in my cart, and headed to the cash registers. I already had an wreath in storage that was a perfect candidate for a little re-purposing.

I started as soon as I got home. I gathered supplies and then made a list of the steps I intended to take to transform my dusty, old bourgeois wreath into something a princess would covet.

For three days, I sprayed, sprayed, sprayed, glued, decorated, embellished, twisted, and tortured the plastic pine needles. Finally, I stepped back and looked at my creation and do you know what? I was pleased, maybe even a little proud.

My flocked wreath looked fluffy and festive. The hand painted and beaded ornaments looked store-bought. Nothing melted, exploded, shrank, crumbled, toppled or spontaneously burst into flames.

So now, for the first time in nearly fifteen years, I can proudly proclaim, "My name is Leah Marie Brown and I am a seasonal Martha Stewart Addict."

Have Yourself a Marie Little Christmas

2011-11-29T07:17:00.000-08:00

Do you know which of the articles and blog posts I have written about Marie Antoinette is the most popular (besides The Royal Dildo)? The answer might surprise you.

You would think my most popular blog posts would be the hilariously titled Flatulent Fatties & Monsieur Fancy Pants: Political Cartoons in 18th Century France or the intriguing My Unexpected Encounter with Marie Antoinette, but they were not.

My most popular post about Marie Antoinette, the one that gets hundreds of hits per day, is 'Tis the Season for Marie Antoinette, wherein I reviewed numerous Marie Antoinette-inspired goodies available for purchase.

The popularity of that piece has encouraged me to write another one, updated with loads of royal booty fit for a queen. So, without further ado, here are some fabulous Marie Antoinette-inspired creations available for purchase (and just in time for Christmas)!

'Tis The Season for Marie Antoinette ~ 2011 Edition

Marie Cherie Cosmetic Bag

If this darling little cosmetic tote had been available in the eighteenth century, Léonard Autie, Marie Antoinette's coiffure, surely would have carried his powders and pomades in it! TokyoMilk makes several other Marie Antoinette-inspired products, including a pocket mirror, perfume, and bubble bath.

CLUE! Juicy Couture

The classic board game gets a royal makeover! From Amazon: "Calling all nice girls who like stuff! You've been summoned by her Majesty Juicy Couture for an exclusive Fashion show "preview" of the new spring line only to arrive and find out that an essential part of the new juicy line is missing! Is is an act of sabotage? You must discover what couture item in the line was stolen, who took it, and where the item is hidden before the fashion show begins the next day! Do you have the smarts to solve this crime of couture and save the show?" Can you say, "Marie Antoinette themed Game Night?"

Have Yourself a Marie Christmas Ornament

This charming handmade decoupage ornament was made using an image from a Christmas Card of Marie Antoinette and a reproduction of an 18th century wallpaper. A beautiful red bow, red glitter glass, and an ornamental wax seal complete the ornament. This ornament and many other Marie Antoinette inspired Christmas ornaments are available on the Etsy store Have A Marie Christmas.

Blush Hush Photo by Chezjolly

This beautiful photograph of pink chairs once owned by Marie Antoinette was taken at the Petite Trianon at the Palace of Versailles in France. This image would look stunning mounted with an eggshell pink matt and framed in antique gold. Can't you just see it hanging in your boudoir?

Let Them Eat Chocolate Cherry Cake Candle

This chocolate cherry cake scented soy candle comes in a darling tin embellished with an image of Marie Antoinette and German glitter glass from the Royal Bebe Shoppe.

Marie Antoinette Tea from Paris in a Cup!

Last year I featured Ladurée's tin of Marie Antoinette Loose Leaf Tea as a must-have. My best friend gave me a canister of the tea for my birthday this year (Merci Fanny!) and I thought it was so utterly delicious I intended to feature it again this year. However, Ladurée's website is down for redesign, which means the only way you can score some of their queenly tea is to visit one of their stores (or get yourself a best friend as generous and fabulous mine). So, this year I am featuring Marie Antoinette Tea from Paris in a Cup! The tea is a royal blend of hibiscus, sultanas, berries, black currant, rose hips, apple, chamomile, and sunflower blossoms and is naturally decaffeinated!

The Salon of Madame Necker

A "juicy tell-all" written by a decendent of Suzanne Necker, the wife of Louis XVI's Minister of Finance. Madame Necker was a writer, brilliant salon hostess, and the mother of Madame de Staël (an author, society hostess, and arch-enemy of Napoleon Bonaparte).

Marie Antoinette: Les musiques d'une reine

At first glance, some might mistake this round, shiny plastic disc as nothing more than a CD of Rococo Music, but it is actually a vehicle which allows one to travel through time to a palace and convent in eighteenth century Versailles, France. Whenever I listen to the haunting, enchanting music on this disc, I need only close my eyes and I am sitting on a pew in a convent in pre-revolutionary France or gliding through the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles. This is a MUST OWN for Marie Antoinette enthusiasts.

Click on the video below to listen to

music from Les Musiques d'une reine

Queen of Flower Rain Boots

When I visited Scotland last summer, the damp weather and my frequent desire to hike through the swampy highlands sent me on a frantic search for authentic Wellies (I only packed strappy sandals and fashionable walking sneakers). I found two pairs in my size at a little store in Inverness: one was black and the other pink. Which do you think I chose? I'll bet you said "pink." Well, prepare yourself for a shock: I chose the black pair. I adored the pink pair but they didn't match my purple and black rain slicker and I am a bit OCD when it comes to matching. Yes, my OCD over-rode my penchant for pink. BUT, if the Marie Antoinette-inspired rain boots pictured above had been available, I would have risked committing a fashion faux pas and clashed. You can bet these Queenly Wellies are at the TOP of my Christmas Wish List!

Check back, I will be adding Have Yourself a Marie Little Christmas ~ Part Two soon! In the meantime, I would like to wish you, the most fabulous blog readers, a Happy, Blessed Holidays!

Win a Free Marie Antoinette Christmas Ornament!

2011-11-09T05:13:00.000-08:00

Since each ornament is an original
creation, the ornament shown may not be
ornament actually won.

Sign up to follow my Twitter account @18thCFrance and you will automatically be entered to win a Marie Antoinette-inspired Christmas ornament from Have Yourself a Marie Christmas. Winner will be announced on my Twitter Feed on November 23, 2011!

If I reach 1,000 followers, three winners will be chosen!

Happy Birthday Marie Antoinette (and Moi too!)

2011-11-02T11:03:00.000-07:00

http://youtu.be/u0sa0sStMwI

Thursday's Titillating Treasure: The King's Chairs

2011-10-26T13:19:00.000-07:00

Have you ever visited a museum or historic home and happened upon an object that made your fingers itch to touch it?

That happened to me over the summer when I visited the Wallace Collection, an amazing museum filled with French antiques in the heart of London. I strolled into one of the rooms and saw a pair of silk-upholstered beechwood, gilded chairs and my fingers began to twitch. I knew they had once belonged to Louis XVI, even without glancing at the placard affixed to the wall above them. The superior craftsmanship and straight, simple lines cried, "Louis Seize."

And the odd tingling sensation in my fingers suggested they must have once been in the presence of my beloved queen. (First-time visitors to my blog should know that I have a strange ESP where Marie Antoinette is concerned, as discussed in my previous posts Serendipity and the Boob Tree and An Unexpected Encounter With Marie Antoinette)

After chatting with a docent, I discovered the chairs had been ordered by Louis XVI in 1786 for the King's Salon at Fontainbleau. He confirmed what my fingers already told me: Since Marie Antoinette visited that palace, the chairs had surely been seen/touched by her. (My unique, often-doubted, sometimes-ridiculed extra sensory perception was validated once again)

I also learned that the king had ordered thirty-six of the chairs with the intention of using them in the Salon des Jeux du Roi, a room often used by the ladies of the court for card games and after-dinner gatherings.

Learning that Marie Antoinette might have perched herself upon one of the chairs created an intense, nearly-excruciating frisson of pleasure inside me. I longed to run my fingers over the smooth, blue fabric, but more than anything, I longed to sit where my idol might have once sat.

The docent must have sensed the battle raging inside me (Should I be a mature, respectful museum-goer and admire the chair from afar or do I throw all caution to the wind and hop up on it like a kid on a merry-go-round?), for he gave me a stern look before slowly strolling away.

I glanced around and discovered I was the only person left in the room.

What do you think I did? What would you have done?

Tuesday's Titillating Treasure: Marie Antoinette's Ewer & Basin

2011-10-18T05:33:00.000-07:00

I visited many wondrous places and saw many wondrous objets d'art during my Grand Tour this previous summer, but it was a rare piece of previous rock crystal that captured (and held) my fancy.

The rock crystal ewer and basin pictured at the left was made by Jean Gaillard in the early 18th century and once belonged to Marie Antoinette. This cleverly designed piece has solid gold mounts and a handle carved in the shape of a young Triton wrestling with a snake-like monster. On the lid (or cover) is a small barking dog. Apparently, in order to pour the liquid, one must blace their thumb in the mouth of dog which releases the cover.

According to the Wallace Collection, only three of these rock cyrstal ewers survive and only two with their basins.

One can imagine Marie Antoinette's delighted, tinkling, bell-like laughter as she discovered the clever mechanism installed on her water ewer!

Marie Christmas!

2011-10-16T19:19:00.000-07:00

Have a Marie Christmas with these fabulous, handmade ornaments inspired by our beloved French Queen and designed to look like a vintage holiday bauble! Made using original artwork, vintage decorative papers, and a wax seal, these are tres charmant!

IF YOU CAN'T RULE THE WORLD, YOU MIGHT AS WELL RULE THE HOLIDAYS with these adorable Napoleon inspired Christmas ornaments. Made using rare, vintage French Brandy labels and metallic paper and finished with a wax seal.

Available on Etsy.

Mad About the Hatter

2011-10-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

Let's pretend for a moment, shall we, that by a fabulous fluke of fate, we have been plucked from our provincial lives and dropped unceremoniously into the court of Louis XVI.

What do you think is the first thing you will notice about the wondrous world that is Versailles (that is, besides the ripe aromas of unwashed human flesh, fresh dog feces, and burning tapers)?

That's right, the fashions, ma cherie!

The courtiers that swirl around us (for we are now objects of great curiosité) are garbed in the finest fabrics money can buy. They are embellished from the tops of their powdered heads to the tips of their buckled feet.

I concede, we must look awfully ridiculous in our skinny jeans and cashmere sweaters.

What to do?

I know! Why don't we purchase a chapeau in a style that is au currant?

After making a few discreet inquiries, we discover that there are several popular hatters in Paris and one in the village of Versailles. But wait! We also learn that Madame Rose Bertin, the queen's own modiste and Minister of Fashion, makes hats!

We are told that many women can not afford the elaborate court presentation gowns made by Mme Bertin, but still seek her out for her remarkable hats. Shielding her lips with her fan, a beautiful lady dripping baroque pearls, tells us in a hushed voice that some of the most powerful noblemen give Bertin's hats to their mistresses.

We thank the gentle lady for her good tips and her gossip, and make haste for the departing choche d'osier. After a bumpy ride atop the public carriage, we find ourselves standing on the rue de Honore, staring at the facade of Madame Bertin's Grand Mogul.

Once inside, we notice dozens of hats lining multiple shelves on the far wall. Though it is difficult, we somehow restrain ourselves from fingering the fluttery plumes and frail silken flowers adorning the lovely hats.

You notice a particularly fetching chapeau with a fine-pleated lace border, tulle veil, crown of Italian gauze and garnishes of rosebud branches, and a panache of white feathers. You are about to plop it on your head until a plump, sweet-faced woman tells you that costs 120 livres (that's about $360). You wisely place it back upon the shelf and opt for a sweet, little, yellow straw hat that has been lined in taffeta, garlanded with poppies, tulips, and cornflowers, and trimmed at the back with a fluttery white feather. With her hands clasped at her ample bosom, Mme Bertin tells us it is a Bergère Hat.

A popular hat throughout the 18th century, the Bergère Hat (French for shepherdess) was made of straw with a shallow crown and flat brim. This hat was worn perched upon the head or with the brim folded back or turned down. A wide ribbon tied in an easy but artful bow under the chin would keep it securely upon the head.

In the portraits below, both women are wearing this type of hat. The lady on the left, from Brittany, has a wide brim and a veil attached. An ostrich feather and flowers adorn the brim of the lady on the right, who happens to be the famous painter Elisabeth Vigee Lebrun.

Indecisive as ever, I can't decide on a chapeau.

Mme Bertin suggests I purchase a fine heron feather and have Leonard, the fashionable hairdresser, work it into a new, updated coiffure. (As she says this, I notice the corners of her mouth pull down. I detect a note of displeasure in her tone and can only assume she does not like my blonde ponytail) I am tempted, for the feather is quite lovely, until she tells me it costs 240 livres ($720)! A shame, really. I would have appreciated the extra height the feather would have given my petite (short) frame.

As the door opens and a stunning woman in changeable silk and a massive powdered wig glides in the store, Madame Bertin politely excuses herself and hurries toward the visitor.

You are delighted with your little yellow straw hat and promise to help me find le chapeau parfait! (By the way, you are proving to be a very agreeable travel partner)

We look at hat that resembles a skinnier, taller version of a top hat. I see from the handwritten tag pinned inside it is called a sugar-loaf hat. Despite the sweet name, it looks so silly perched on my head, it reminds me of one a trained monkey would wear. (Secretly, I wonder if all I need to pull off this look is a tiny pair of cymbals).

I confess to being drawn to a large, black velvet bonnet hat with a turquoise silk ribbon and a riot of black ostrich feathers, but you gently suggest it might be too bold for my present attire (skinny jeans, riding boots).

We also look at large Louis Seize hats, lacy mob caps, gauzy turbans, and a floppy hat named écossaise chapeau (after the Scottish clansmen who inspired the headgear).

In the end, and in light of my casual attire, I settle on a jaunty tricorn riding hat. As she is wrapping my hat up in a striped Grand Mogul hat box, Mme Bertin tells us that she made the same sort of hat for Marie-Antoinette to wear with her new burnish orange redingote. I beam and tell Mme Bertin that as a longtime supporter of the Queen, I decide my choice was surely influenced by Serendipity!

Joyeux Anniversaire François Boucher!

2011-09-29T06:25:00.000-07:00

Boucher when he was 38 years
old and at the height of his
popularity

I have returned from my Grand Tour and am anxious to share some of my titillating finds, but first, I hope you will join with me in wishing François Boucher a Joyeux Anniversaire!

The brilliant French painter was born in this day in 1703. The son of a minor painter and talented lace designer, François was exposed to the Arts at a young age. By the time he was twenty years old, he had served as an apprentice to the famed artist François Lemoyne, the engraver Jean-François Cars, and won the Grand Prix de Rome (a much-coveted scholarship for artists).
He was admitted to the Académie de peinture et de sculpture as a historical painter in 1731 and became a faculty member in 1734. From that point, his career took off.

Using a pleasing palette in which he incorporated many shades of blue, Boucher was a master at depicting the whimsical, fantastical, and normal scenes of life in the early to mid-18th century.

In his painting, A Lady Fastening Her Garter (or La Toilette) we are able to peek into a private, intimate moment of a fashionable woman completing her toilette. Notice that the lady's face had been whitened with (lead-based) make-up, rouged, and adorned with a pox patch. Her ebony hair has been tightly curled in the tête de moutin style, (a popular "do" during Boucher's lifetime). Still wearing her powdering cape to protect her changeable silk gown from falling face or hair powder, she occupies herself with the task of fastening a pink garger around her thigh.

I love this painting because it offers a glimpse at a time-worn ritual in an elegant, long-gone era. La Toilette illustrates the arduous process a woman endures to conform to the present day ideal of beauty. Today, the details have changed (garters have been exchanged for nylons or socks and pox patches are happily a thing of the past), but the ritual is as arduous as ever. This lovely woman is long since gone, but women today can still identify with her passion for fashion.

In 1733 Boucher married Marie-Jeanne Buzeau, a famed beauty. Marie-Jeanne frequently modeled for her husband, becoming the subject of many of his paintings, including: Woman on a Daybed, An Autumn Pastorale, and the extremely controversial The Dark-Haired Odalisque, in which he portrays his lovely wife lying on her stomach across a daybed, her dressing gown pulled up to reveal her bare legs and bottom. Boucher was accused of "prostituting his wife for art" by Denis Diderot, the art critic and philosopher. Prostitution or no, The Dark-Haired Odalisque is one of Boucher's more compelling and sumptuous paintings (a far cry from his allegorical scenes). This is sensuality and decadance portrayed on a whole other level.

As seems to be the course of fame, Boucher experienced enormous success followed by a decline in popularity, vicious barbs by critics, and eventually an over-shadowing by a new painter, Fragonard.

Today, Boucher's masterpieces can be found in museums around the world - from the Boston Museum of Art to the Louvre.

The Wallace Collection, a remarkable museum in London that was once the home of a wealthy nobleman, has several Boucher paintings in their collection, including Venus and Vulcan (left).

Venus and Vulcan was painted by Boucher in 1754 and was one of three panels. It depicts Venus with her husband Vulcan, the god of fire. According to the Wallace Collection site, "The scene is set in a forge, with Cupid sharpening his arrows on Vulcan’s anvil, while the god is distracted by his wife. Venus seduced her husband, with whom she was not always on the best of terms, in order to persuade him to forge arms for her mortal son Aeneas." Critics have cited Venus and Vulcan as one of the most beautiful paintings ever created by François Boucher. I might have to agree.

If you would like to view the other panels in this trilogy, please click here. I particularly like Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan for the titillating subject matter and sumptuous color palette.

Here is a partial list of Boucher's work (click on title to view the painting):

Halt at the Spring (1765)

Return From Market (1767)

Diana and Callisto (1760)

Landscape with Watermill (1750)

Reclining Female Nude (1763)

Shepherd Boy Playing Bagpipes (1754)

Shepherdess and Child (1765-7)

Young Woman with Flowers in Her Hair (1734)

Young Woman with a Bouquet

Rinaldo and Armida (1749)

The Rest on the Flight to Egypt (1737)

Diana Resting after her Bath (1742)

An Autumn Pastorle (1749)

Venus Consoling Love (1751)

Cupid a Captive (1750)

Earth: Vertumnus and Pomona (1749)

Further Reading:

Boucher by David Chaucer

http://www.amazon.com/Boucher-Chaucer-Art-David-Wakefield/dp/B004AYDDCE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1317302156&sr=8-1#_

Tuesday's Titillating Treasure: A Child's Plaything

2011-07-25T06:19:00.000-07:00

Today's Titillating Treasure is the enchanting painting Two Sisters by Jean Baptiste Claude Richard, Abbé de Saint-Non. The Abbé was born in Paris in 1727. He was the youngest son of a land-rich, coin-poor gentleman, studied theology at the Sorbonne, and emulated the artistic style of Fragonard.

Although we do not know the identity of the sitters in this pastel by Richard, we are able to glean a few facts about them. The girls are dressed as adults, in contemporary costumes, which was a common practice of the time. Still, their costumes are quite lavish. The girls wears gowns of expensive changeable silk and their be-ribboned hair has been artfully arranged. Notice the girl with the lace neck ruff and the tiny peach silk rosette on her shoe.

The girls take turns riding on a toy horse. Beneath the horse is a doll called a Polichinelle. This doll is a clown with a mask and a bicorne hat. Polichinelle is French for the Commedia dell'arte character Pulcinella, who was a typical character in a Neapolitan puppet show with a beak-like nose and half black, half white mask.

(Interesting side note: The French saying, avoir un polichinelle dans le tiroir means to have a bun in the oven/to be pregnant. Also, a polichinelle secret is a "secret" known to all the world.)

Learn more about 18th Century Children

Silence in the Mist Released Today!!

2011-07-07T06:04:00.000-07:00

The ever-charming Fifi Flowers of Reading is Fashionable was kind enough to conduct an interview with me about my just-released historical romance novel, Silence in the Mist. I hope you will take a moment to read the interview, leave a comment, and enter to win a free copy of Silence in the Mist! Merci Fifi!

If you do not win, please do not fret. Amazon has plenty more copies of Silence in the Mist.

Tuesday's Titillating Treasure: Marie Antoinette's Bookcase

2011-06-16T13:41:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of the General Knox Museum

I found this picture of a mahogany shearer style bookcase with fitted interior on the official website of the General Knox Museum. The museum claims the large, mirror fronted bookcase might have once belonged to Marie Antoinette.

According to their website, "Henry Knox's grandson, Henry Knox Thatcher, claimed to a Knox biographer that this bookcase once belonged to Marie Antoinette. This is a common story attached to many period pieces on the Maine coast: A sea captain in Edgecomb claimed to have been part of a plot to help the endangered queen escape the French Revolution and come to the United States. His job was to transport her and her belongings to a house being set up for her. Obviously, the queen did not escape, but according to legend the boat, fully loaded with her belongings, made it to the coast of Maine, and from there her possessions were dispersed. James Swan, wealthy Boston tradesman and the owner of the boat, was a friend of Knox. He is on record as having sold French aristocratic furniture in the United States during and after the French Revolution, including pieces said to be Marie Antoinette's, making the story plausible. However, the bookcase is very English in style and construction."

Chances are Henry Knox Thatcher was telling a tall tale. Furniture made for Marie Antoinette was stamped with her official seal. If this bookcase belonged to the queen, I would think there would be some mark indicating it's owner and the palace in which it resided. (The desk I saw during my behind-the-scenes tour of Fontainebleau had a mark under the tabletop of Marie Antoinette's crest for the palace of Saint Cloud)

The site also indicates, "The secondary woods used - juniper, tulip poplar, white pine, and yellow pine - suggest that it was made in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From Knox's financial papers we know that he shipped the bookcase from Philadelphia to Boston, then to Thomaston, in the spring and summer of 1796, which was followed up with repairs to the mirrors. It is likely that the bookcase is one of two purchased by Knox a month before he shipped his belongings. The bookcase appears on the probate inventories for Henry Knox, Lucy Flucker Knox, Caroline Holmes and Lucy Flucker Thatcher, and was subsequently passed down in the family. A fall front over the fitted interior and the silver plated candle sconces are not original to the piece."

I do not believe this bookcase was Marie Antoinette's, but the story of a boat load of her belongings being shipped to America is romantic and exciting, isn't it?

War in the Vendée: Who's Who?

2011-05-28T07:28:00.000-07:00

The Monarchists (also known as insurgents or counter-revolutionaries):

Bordereau, Renée (1770-1824) - Nicknamed L'Angevin, Bordereau was a French woman who disguised herself as a man and fought as a Royalist cavalier during the Vendéan insurrection. She is credited with killing numerous revolutionary soldiers and with saving hundreds of members of the clergy. Bordereau is mentioned in Marilyn Yalom's book Blood Sisters: The French Revolution in Women's Memory and is a major character in Leah Marie Brown's award-winning novel, Silence in the Mist.

Cadoudal, Georges (January 1, 1771-June 25, 1804) - Leader of the Chouans who was born in Brittany to Catholic parents. Cadoudal is also a character in The Last Cavalier by Alexandre Dumas.

Charette, François (May 2, 1763–March 26, 1796) Of noble birth, Charette served in the French Navy, notably in the American War of Independence. A soldier and politician, he was also one of the leaders of the Vendéan Revolt. Charette was wounded during a battle with General Lazare Hoche's men, but escaped. Eventually captured near Le Logis de la Chabotterie, he was taken to Nantes where he was sentenced to death. He died heroically by firing squad. Charette is mentioned in the book The Story of the War in La Vendée and the Little Chouannerie by George Hill and is a character in the novel, Silence in the Mist, by Leah Marie Brown.

Cottereau, Jean aka Jean Chouan (October 30, 1757-July 18, 1794) - Much of what is written about this son of a sabot (wooden shoes) maker who grew up on a farm, near a pear orchard, in northern France is embellished romantic legend. In his early twenties, Cottereau was accused of smuggling salt, beating a man and killing a customs agent. He fled, enlisted in the infantry, was eventually captured, and spent a year in prison. Shortly before the Revolution, Cottereau began working on the grounds of an Abbey. Perhaps regular contact with holy men prompted this colorful character to repent his wicked ways, for when the Revolution errupted, Couttereau defended the clergy and the nobility. Nicknamed "chouan" (silent one), he led insurrgents through the forest and conducted what we would today call guerrilla warfare.

Després, Françoise - A woman of humble origins, educated beyond her station who dressed as a beggar to carry secret messages for the royalist army in the Vendée, often escaping arrest and inspiring her compatriots with her zeal for the counter-revolution. Després is mentioned in Marilyn Yalom's book Blood Sisters: The French Revolution in Women's Memory and is the heroine in Leah Marie Brown's award-winning novel, Silence in the Mist.

du Briel, Toussaint, aka Vicomte de Pontbriand (September 2, 1776-February 2, 1844) - Colonel in the Royalist Army during the French Revolution. Awarded the Legion of Honour and the Chevalier de Saint Louis.

Saint-Hilarie, Louis Joseph Benigno Hague (December 12, 1766-1838) Colonel in the Chouannerie. Awarded the Chevalier Saint-Louis.

Tuffin, Charles Armand (April 1751-January 1793) - This Breton nobleman (also known as the Marquis de la Rouërie) was truly larger than life! A calvary officer who fought with the Americans during their War of Independence, he was brave and brash. A staunch monarchist and defender of the nobility, he is credited with being one of the founders and organizers of the Chouannerie (royalist uprising in 12 of the departments of France). See portrait of Tuffin.

Picquet, Aimé Casimir Marie Picquet aka the Chevalier du Boisguy (March 15, 1776-October 25,1839) Picquet began fighting for the royalist cause when he was barely fifteen years old, enlisting in the Royalist Army. He would serve as an aide de camp to General La Rouërie and fight in numerous battles. At seventeen, he was made a leader in the Chouannerie. At nineteen, he was promoted to general. Because of his youth and smaller stature, he was nicknamed "the little general". in 1800, he was the last General of the Chouannerie to surrender. He was awareded the Legion of Honour and the Order of Saint Louis. See portrait of Picquet.

Pontavice, Louis-Anne du (1768-1793) - Pontavice was the cousin of the Marquis de la Rouërie, the organizer of the Breton Associating/Conspiracy (a counter-revolutionary plot to return Brittany to the monarchy) who was accused of being a Vendean Conspirator and arrested on March 15, 1793 and imprisoned in the Abbaye. After evidence surfaced (bills for traveling expenses incurred by royalist sympathisers), he was sentenced to death. Read the last letter of Louis-Anne du Pontavice.

Vergier, Henri du, aka Comte de La Rochejaquelein (August 30, 1772-January 28, 1794) - This dashing, extremely brave nobleman was the youngest general of the Royalist Vendéan insurrection during the French Revolution. Born in the Château de la Durbellière near Châtillon, La Rochejaquelein fought for the first time defending the royal family at the Tuileries Palace on the October 10,1792, as an officer of the Constitutional Guard of King Louis XVI.  He fought several battles against the revolutionary army. Read more about this brave soldier.

The Revolutionaries:

Beysser, Jean-Michel (November 4, 1753-April 13, 1794) This French general defeated the Vendéens in a battle in June 1793. On September 17, 1793, he was then defeated by the Vendéens at the Battle of Montaigu. For his failures, and suspicions of treason, he was arrested on October 2, 1793 and imprisoned in the Prison de l'Abbaye. He appeared before the Revolutionary Tribunal and was condemned to death March 24, 1794

Canclaux, Jean Baptiste Camille de Canclaux (August 2, 1740-December 27, 1817) - From 1791-1792, this general in the French Army was tasked with suppressing insurgents in Brittany.  In 1793, the National Convention named him commander of the armée de l'Ouest. He led his soldiers in battle against the Vendéen army, coming head to head with General Charette at the battle of Montaigu and again at Mortagne-sur-Sèvre.

Carrier, Jean Baptiste (1756- December 16, 1794) - Jean-Baptiste Carrier was a Revolutionary commander who employed brutal tactics in dealing with counter-revolutionaries.  In Nantes, he disposed of Vendéean prisoners-of-war in a horrifically efficient form of mass execution. He bound naked men, women, and children together, placed them in specially designed flat-bottomed boats, towed them out to the middle of the river Loire and then sunk the boats. These mass drownings were called the "noyades" and were the basis for Leah Marie Brown's novel, Scarlet Ribbons. See Carrier's portrait.

Fouché, Joseph (May 21, 1759-December 25, 1820) - Born in Nantes, he received an excellent education, took minor religious orders, and became a teacher. During the Revolution, he renounced his religious orders and was elected to the National Convention. Working for that body, he voted for the death of Louis XVI and orchestrated the murder of thousands of priests, nuns, and noblemen. He was particularly brutal to the people of the Vendée. Clever and unctuous, Fouché managed to survive the tumultuous years of the Revolution by shifting his alliances to suit the climate. He would go on to serve as Napoleon's Minister of Police, where he would have prominent members of society followed and keep meticulous notes on many citizens.

d'Herbois, Jean-Marie Collot aka Collot (June 19, 1749-June 8, 1796) - A French actor and playwright. An ardent revolutionary, he became a member of the Committee of Public Safety during the Reign of Terror. He is credited with saving Madame Tussaud from the guillotine, but also with having administered the execution of more than 2,000 people in the city of Lyon. He worked side-by-side with Fouché. He once remarked, "The rights of man are made,not for counter-revolutionaries but only for sans-culottes."

Hoche, Lazare (June 24, 1768–September 19, 1797) - Hoche was was a French soldier who rose to be general of the Revolutionary army. A fierce soldier and shrewd commander, he fought in several major battles and took part in the defense of Dunkirk. He died of tuberculosis (though some suspected he had been poisoned) and was buried in a fort on the Rhine. Hoche is the villain in Leah Marie Brown's novel, Silence in the Mist. See Hoche's portrait.

Kléber, Jean Baptiste (March 9, 1753–June 14, 1800) - Born in Strasbourg, Kléber was a general during the French Revolutionary Wars. He was integral to the supression of the Vendéans, defeating their armies at Le Mans and Savenay. Following the battle of Le Mans, he actively pursued the counter-revolutionary leader,Comte de la Rochejaquelein, resulting in that man's death. He would go on to serve as one of Napoleon's most trusted generals.

Parein, Mathieu (December 1755-May 25, 1831) - A lawyer who presided over the Revolutionary Tribunal in the Vendée. He was also in charge of a Temporary Commission set up in Lyon to reinforce revolutionary justice. Working alongside Fouché, he helped to dismantle parts of the city and murder thousands of men, women and children.

Rossignol, Jean Antoine (November 7, 1759-April 27, 1802) - This incompetent, immoral man would serve the Republic in various capacities throughout the revolution. In 1793, he was appointed Lieutenant-colonel of the gendarmerie in the Vendée and then the commander-in-chief of the armée de l'Ouest. After engaging in and encouraging looting, he was removed from his office. Later reinstalled through the machinations of Danton, he would become the commander in chief of the armée des côtes de Brest, armée de l'Ouest and armée des côtes de Cherbourg.

Verdier, Jean-Antoine (May 2, 1767—1839) - Born in Toulouse, Verdier enlisted into the Régiment de la Fère on February 18, 1785. He served as Aide-de-camp to Augereau in 1792 with the army of the Eastern Pyrenees. in September 1795, he was promoted to brigadier general.

Joseph Fouché: Man of Few Morals

2011-05-22T18:30:00.000-07:00

Joseph Fouché was born on May 21, 1759 in the little village, Le Pellerin, near Nantes, France. He recieved an impressive education at the college of the Oratorians and took minor religious orders.

He renounced his orders and religion, however, and became one of the most vociferous, brutal Revolutionaries to have ever lived, authorizing the murder of priests and nuns and desecrating countless chuches.

"Alas, Fouché's enthusiasm had proved a little too effective, for when the blood from the mass executions in the center of Lyons gushed from severed heads and bodies into the streets, drenching the gutters of the Rue Lafont, the vile-smelling red flow nauseated the local residents, who irately complained to Fouché and demanded payment for damages. Fouché, sensitive to their outcry, obliged them by ordering the executions moved out of the city to the Brotteaux field, along the Rhône." (Napoleon Bonaparte by Alan Schom)

Fast Facts About the Faithless Fouché:

Hubert Cole wrote a biography about Fouché titled Fouché: The Unprincipled Patriot.
Joseph Fouché was described by his contemporaries as being: foul-mouthed, slovenly, ill-dressed, brutal, and sinister in appearance.
Ironically, Fouché was a loving family father and husband.
His wife was often described as being hideous or ugly.
Fouché was elected to the National Convention.
He voted for the death of Louis XVI.
The National Convention sent Fouché to the Vendée to quell the counter-revolutionaries, allowing him to employ any methods.
Fouché conducted dechristianization ceremonies in Lyon and other cities around France. On his orders, priests and nuns were rounded up and drowned in rivers.
One of his cohorts was a former actor and playwright.
Though they both preferred brutal tactics in dealing with counter-revolutionaries, Fouché and Robespierre were enemies.
Many members of the Revolutionary Tribunal and the Committee of Public Safety felt that Fouché was brutal.
Robespierre turned on Fouché because he thought the man was "corrupt."
Once, while on a mission to Nivre, Fouché ransacked churches and inscribed the motto, "Death is an eternal sleep" on the gates of a cemetary in town.
Robespierre's sister, Charlotte, wrote in her memoirs about overhearing an argument between Fouché and her brother. She describes a scene wherein Robespierre chastises Fouché for his brutal tactics in Lyon.
Fouché was a huge supporter of Napoleon...at first.
Napoleon named Fouché his Minister of Police. In that capacity, Fouché watched Napoleon's enemies, gathering damning information.
Fouché also watched Napoleon's mistresses, including Eléonore Denuelle. Spitefully, and perhaps erroneously, Fouché convinced Napoleon that the baby Denuelle gave birth to was not his. The child, Charles Léon Denuelle, would grow to look a lot like the Emperor.
Talleyrand and Fouché worked together in convincing Napoleon to divorce Josephine.
Talleyrand did not like Fouché, but rather thought of him as a rat killer.
As Minister of Police, Fouché kept a close eye on things while Napoleon was off conquering the world. Once, Napoleon heard rumors that Fouché was plotting a coup d'état. He investigated the rumors but never found concrete proof. Fouché escaped danger again.
With Napoleon's blessing, Fouché censored all written material in France, including newspapers and books.
When Fouché was caught colluding with exiled noblemen, Napoleon had him reassigned.
Eventually, Fouché would turn on Napoleon as well. He was instrumental in getting Napoleon's abdication.
In his memoirs, Napoleon describes Fouché as "immoral and versatile."
Napoleon wrote, "If only I had hanged two men, Talleyrand and Fouché. I would still be on the throne today."
One the monarch was (briefly) restored, the nobles wanted nothing to do with the oily Fouché.
The wealthy Fouché spent his final days living in exile in Prague, Linz, and Trieste.
He died on Christmas Day in 1820 and is buried in a cemetary in Ferrieres en Brie.

RECOMMENDED READING:

The Last Letter of Louis-Anne du Pontavice

2011-05-19T13:45:00.000-07:00

Louis-Anne du Pontavice was the cousin of the Marquis de la Rouërie, the organizer of the Breton Association/Conspiracy (a counter-revolutionary plot to return Brittany to the monarchy) who was accused of being a Vendean Conspirator and arrested on March 15, 1793 and imprisoned in the Abbaye. After evidence surfaced (bills for traveling expenses incurred by royalist sympathisers), Pontavice was sentenced to death.

He wrote the following letter to a trusted friend:

To Citizen Balsac, at the Hotel de La Providence, at Paris.

    Receive all my thanks, my worthy friend, for the care and attention that you have expended in trying to save me. Fate has decided otherwise, my regrets are inexpressible. You know the object that is the cause of them [ed. note: Pontavice refers to his young wife, who had just given birth to their first child], be so kind as to mitigate hers, she has a child; let her preserve her heath for the unfortunate being who has need of her. As soon as you can, go and see M. Jouanne, the lawyer, and put him in entire charge of my unfortunate friend's affairs. I have no property of my own. I hope people will not trouble her on that account, everything is in the names of my wife and mother-in-law. Be my interpreter, I beg you, with all those persons who have been son kind as to take an interest in me. Here I am giving you a very painful task, given your sensitivity, for which I ask your pardon. I am, with the utmost gratitude, your friend.

Du Pontavice.

After signing his name, Pontavice began what would be his last letter. Although he writes in a tone that is practical, urging his friend and his father to attend to his financial matters and his wife and child, there is a note of such meloncholy that it resonates all these years later. In this last letter, it is what Pontavice doesn't say that resonates the most.

To Citizen Pontavice,
living at La Branche, at Saint-Brice

     I have just been condemned to death, my dear, loving father, after having gone through four months of imprisonment. I spared you until now the pain that learning of my detention would have caused you, but it was my duty to inform you of this terrible event the moment it could no longer be hidden from you.
    I wish to spare my unhappy wife this sorrow. I would ask you, for her sake, as my last wish, to assist her in whatever she may need. I know noting in the world as estimable as her, she has a right to all of your most tender feelings. On 26 March she brought into the world a daughter who will be some consolation to her. Your care and good heart are for me pledges that you will do the rest; do not pity me, I die not guilty and without reproach. in a few hours, i shall be perfectly happy, the approach of death is not horrible to me, what follows cannot be.
    I embrace my mother, my sister, my aunt. I remain worthy of their esteem and friendship.
    Be so kind as to tear up the note of the money that you were good enough to lend me and do not demand payment for it from my poor wife. I do not think that what i ask is unjust. farewell, my worthy friend, my loving father, whose fine soul will learn of this event with all the heroism of which it is capable.

I am with respect,
Your son, Louis-Anne Pontavice
This 18 May 1793

L'Abbaye Prison

POSTSCRIPT FROM LEAH MARIE BROWN: After posting this piece, I received several emails (and a tweet from a faithful follower) asking me if I knew what became of poor Pontavice's wife and child. Alas, I do not. I am sorry to say, that after numerous inquiries and searches, I was not able to discover the fate of Pontavice's unfortunate wife and infant.

I can tell you that Louis-Anne du Pontavice married Élisabeth-Louise Person, who was the daughter of Nicolas-Joseph Person, Chevalier de Saint-Louis. Élisabeth's father had been the master of the hunt to the Duc d'Orléans. That brave man died on July 14, 1789 while defending the Bastille.

This means Pontavice's wife was without the protection of a husband or father. We do know, however, that her mother was still living (for Pontavice mentions his mother-in-law in the letter).

Also, I did discover that Pontavice had a home in Fougeres, which still exists and today is a charming bed and breakfast. I've written the present owners of the home and will let you know what I discover.

Personally, I fear the fate of the young widow. Pontavice's letter to his father, while emotional, hints at some discord between the two. He writes," I know of nothing in the world as estimable as her, she has a right to all of your most tender feelings." It almost sounds like an admonishment. In the final paragraph, he beseeches his father to tear up a promissory note and not to demand repayment from Élisabeth. This does not suggest close ties, but perhaps I am wrong.

I was also asked if Citizen Balsac (Pontavice's friend) was the famous writer, Honoré de Balzac. The answer to that question is: No. Pontavice wrote his letter in 1793, but Balzac (the writer) wasn't born until 1799. However, it appears the "Balsac" Pontavice wrote to was Honoré de Balzac's father.

In fact, Balzac (the writer) paid a visit to R. du Pontavice de Heussy in Fougeres in Brittany. It was during that visit he conducted research for The Last Chouan. (Read more about Balzac's visit by clicking here)

Thank you for your questions! I love knowing I have such faithful and inquisitive followers.

I Do: Antoinette Style

2011-05-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

Every girl dreams of her wedding day, but few imagine themselves wearing a gown encrusted in diamonds. Few see themselves wedding a man garbed in a suit made of cloth of gold. And few envision themselves holding wedding celebrations that include a fireworks display of 20,000 rockets... (read more titillating tidbits about Marie Antoinette's wedding by clicking here)

...but then, few are born Marie Antoinette, daughter of a rich and powerful empress!

Just because your blood is of the common, red variety, doesn't mean you can't look (and party) like a blue-blooded bride.

Ms. Polkadot of Polkadot Bride says, "A Marie Antoinette wedding theme captures the beauty and drama of the French Baroque era. Opulence and luxury are in favour alongside all things decadent and ornate." Cakes decorated with sugared almonds, hand fans as party favors, and pink champagne are a few of Ms. Polkadot's ideas for a Baroque-Inspired Wedding. Lean about more of her ideas by reading this article.

It Starts With the Invite

I scoured the internet to find the most lovely and unique Marie Antoinette-inspired wedding announcements, invitations, and thank you cards.

I found these one-of-a-kind, hand painted beauties on the blog, Muddy Brushes, and decided they were truly the most lovely and unique ones out there.

The artist, Kristy Rice of Monumental Design, said she, "went with a shimmery champagne top layer so the painted swirls and flower really popped. A pattern, pink outer layer was a fun experiment to add more texture and dimension."

I think they are tres magnifique, don't you?

For the Drama Queen

If you are the theatrical type and are looking for something less traditional, you might want to click on over to Sugar Kei. These elaborately-concocted, Marie Antoinette-inspired gowns of frills and frippery are fabulous redux! (Even spinsters and committed singletons will want to take a moment to look at these spectacular gowns)

Let Them Eat Cake...Seriously!

Marie Antoinette Cake
by Cake Coquette

By now, we all know Marie Antoinette never uttered the callous remark, "Let them eat cake." Even so, if she had seen this confectionary masterpiece created by Cake Coquette, I am sure she would have proudly proclaimed, "Cake for everyone!"

Cake Designer Gabrielle Feuersinger, owner of Cake Coquette in San Francisco, California, iced the cake in pink butteream and hand-piped the scroll details in buttercream and then painted them in edible gold. She made the cameos, bands and bow with bronze painted fondant. The topper? Feuersinger ordered the charming cake topper from, Ladurée, one of my favorite Paris patisseries.

What to wear to the nuptial chamber?

You've dutifully planned the details of your royal wedding, but now it's time to shift your focus a tit...err...a bit...to your wedding night! What does a royal princess wear in the nuptial chamber? How about one of these sinfully sweet corsets designed by Madame Dulcilbelle? (The wig is optional)

Maya Hansen Corsetry also has a Marie Antoinette-inspired corset with couture finishings that is sure to give your prince palpatations!

Sites to Inspire You:

An Amazing Photo Shoot of A Marie Antoinette Inspired Wedding

They're Not Manolo's But They're Marvelous

Replicas of Marie Antoinette's Earrings

A Little Marie Antoinette For You:

I Do: The Wedding of Louis and Antoinette

2011-05-16T08:28:00.000-07:00

The wedding of Maria Antonia Josepha Johanna von Habsburg-Lothringen to Louis-Auguste de France, which happened on this day in 1770, was no small affair. Over five-thousand people were invited to attend the royal nuptials, tiers of seating were erected in the Hall of Mirrors so curious onlookers could observe the wedding procession, and a veritable fortune was spent on festivities and the bride's trousseau.

The Bride Wore...

One of Marie Antoinette's
gowns, created by Rose Bertin.

What did the slender, charming, teenage Antoinette wear to her wedding? It might shock you to learn that the bride did not wear white! She actually wore a brocade gown that glittered with diamonds and had a long, heavy train.

According to the critical and snippy Duchess of Northumberleand, Antoinette wore a gown that was too tight. "the corps of her robe was too small and left quite a broad stripe of lacing and shift quite visible, which had a bad effect between two broader stripes of diamonds. She really had quite a load of jewels."

A Royal Procession

The royal procession made its way through the Hall of Mirrors. Antoinette, praised for her smooth and graceful gait, moved across the white marble floor as if pulled on wheels, followed by a bevy of bejeweled ladies. What a dazzling site that must have been to behold!

The Royal Chapel at
the Chateau de Versailles

With drums rolling and flutes cheerfully chirping, Louis and Antoinette entered the royal chapel. They knelt on silken cushions for the ceremony. After the mass, as was the custom, the royal couple signed the register of Notre Dame, brought to Versailles by the parish-priest.

Antoinette then returned to her private apartments to receive the allegiance of the officers of the house and then the ambassadors and ministers of foreign courts.

Finally, the royals partied! The king played cards, the royal family ate dinner in the new theater, and they listened to an orchestra. Then the royal couple were escorted to their nuptial chamber!

The celebrations didn't end there!

Fireworks Display

For days following the nuptials, the royal family and guests enjoyed theatrical performances (including one by the famous actress, Mademoiselle Clarion), masked balls, banquets, boat rides in the Grand Canal, operas, and a fireworks display of over 20,000 rockets!

Every girl dreams of her wedding day, but few dream of gowns encrusted in diamonds or elaborate celebrations that last for days. (Perhaps because they do not have the coffers of France and Austria at their disposal)

Fast Facts About The Royal Wedding:

Two days before the wedding, the King's Master of Ceremonies gave Antoinette twelve wedding rings. She tried on each one until she found one that fit her finger.
Arriving by her private coach, Antoinette arrived at Versailles on the morning of her wedding to find debris in the courtyards, statues overturned, and fountains clogged with rancid, green water. (Welcome home!)
The morning of the nuptials was dark and overcast.
Antoinette did not wear white.
5,000 people were invited to the wedding, but many more arrived in hopes of catching a glimpse of the royal couple.
The Saturday following the wedding, the palace hosted an prodigious fireworks display, firing over 20,000 rockets.
Over 200,000 people watched the fireworks display celebrating the nuptials of Louis, the Dauphin of France, and his new bride, Antoinette.
One of the worst fireworks-related disasters occurred on Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's wedding day. In honor of the event, the palace hosted a fireworks display. After the show, the crowd began pushing and hundreds of people were trampled.
Only a few, privledged people were allowed to play cards in public in the days following the wedding.
Louis came to the nuptial chamber wearing a simple nightshirt.
Louis and Antoinette, exhausted after their long wedding day, simply fell asleep. In other words, Louis did not get a little something-something.
Antoinette got a little something-something...from her grandfather-in-law. Louis XV gave her an "elaborate set of blue enamel, a chain of diamonds, a pocket box, a watch, and a fan encrusted with diamonds." (Marie Antoinette, Huisman)
Despite the raucous celebrations and throng of well-wishers, Antoinette felt alone during her first days as Dauphine of France. Homesick, she missed her family, her pets, and felt overwhelmed by the strange customs of a new court.

Further Reading:

Would you like to watch a podcast about one of Marie Antoinette's dresses, created by Rose Bertin? Click here.
Want to know what Madam Campan had to say about Antoinette's Royal Wedding? Click here.
Read more about Marie Antoinette's wedding on Elena Maria Vidal's blog, Tea at Trianon.
Learn about 18th Century Wedding Customs on Catherine Delors blog, Versailles and More.

The Belvedere Pavilion

2011-05-13T20:15:00.000-07:00

I snapped this shot before
entering the palace.

For years I had wanted to visit the Chateau de Versailles. When I finally found myself walking through the Hall of Mirrors, I felt strangely dissatisfied. I felt a melange of emotions - melancholy and anxiety.

Instead of taking my time to absorb the chateau I had long desired to visit, I felt eager to be done with it.

It was as if some hidden force was propelling me through the palace. By the time I came to the last room in the apartment tour, I was inexplicably irritated and eager to flee the building.

I exited the palace and boarded the tram to Petite Trianon. The journey, which lasted approximately five minutes, took me through landscaped yards and avenues of green. I got off the tram and entered Petite Trianon, the one-time private pleasure palace of my idol Marie Antoinette. Thankfully, I felt less irritated, but still sad and anxious.

I wandered through the rooms of Petite Trianon for an hour. I saw the Receiving Room, where Marie Antoinette would entertain her guests by playing the harp. A harp stands in the same place. I walked through the bedroom where, first Madame du Barry and then the Queen, slept. I even ran my hands across the plaster relief of her interlocking initials. For a Marie Antoinette enthusiast, it should have been an overwhelmingly heady experience. And yet, I was uder-whelmed. I felt Marie Antoinette's spirit in the building, but it was distant and muted. As if looking at someone through the wrong end of a telescope.

I left Petite Trianon and headed up the path towards the Temple of Love. With each step, I felt a bit lighter. I was still a bit sad but not overwhelmingly so, and the feeling was lifting. I came to a fork in the road and decided to veer to the left, away from the Temple of Love. A copse of trees stood slightly to the right. I could see there was a slightly hidden path through the heart of the copse. I decided to follow it. It was quiet, the only sound was the slight rustling of leaves. In the distance, I could make out modern sounds - a leaf blower, cars, a jet. I stood in the copse and closed my eyes, waiting until the sounds faded away and only the rustling leaves were left echoing in my ears. It was peaceful and restorative. I opened my eyes and continued along the little path towards the distant opening. When I finally came to the opening, I could see a pond. Reflected in its surface was an octagonal marble building. Even distorted by the pond's ripple surface, it was a beautiful structure. I knew, without looking at my map, I had stumbled upon the Belvedere Pavilion.

Marie Antoinette commissioned Richard Mique for the construction of the Belvedere Pavilion. Mique was one of the queen's favorite architects because he subscribed to her notions of elegant simplicity. (Marie Antoinette would keep him very busy during her short reign commissioning him to design: a Chinese tilting ring, the Temple of Love, the Rock Pavilion, the theatre, and Le Hameau.)

The Belvedere Pavilion, erected on a rock above the pond, was a place for Marie Antoinette to engage in relaxing pursuits. On warm days, she would throw open the many French doors and allow the cool breeze to flow through. I can easily imagine her reclining on one of her many beautifully upholstered chairs, listening to Princess Lamballe recite stirring, romantic poetry. On cool days, Marie Antoinette would serve tea to friends at the Belvedere. They would sit and stare out the doors, which acted as frames for the colorful splashes of nature beyond.

It is at the Pavilion that I feel the happiest. I climb the steps and place my hand on the head of one of the lioness statues that surround the Belvedere. The statue is cool, despite the warmth of the day. I walk to one of the French doors and notice the tiny brass doorknob, weathered and worn but not tarnished. The white paint around the doorknob is bubbled and crackled, some pieces have fallen off leaving the wood bare and exposed. I find myself drawn to the doorknob. It is simple, unlike the massive and ornate knobs at the Chateau, and inviting. I can't resist wrapping my fingers around the knob. The brass is smooth and slightly cool against my palm. I am struck by the thought, "Marie Antoinette might have touched this very knob." A shiver runs up my spine, yet I feel oddly warm and satisfied.

Drawing my attention away from the knob and through the window, I notice the understated elegance of the inner-chamber. The walls are paneled white and painted with gold leaf. The floor is an intricate design of colored marble. Even though the furniture, devoured or destroyed during the Revolution, is missing, the room does not feel empty. Strong shafts of sunlight stream in through the doors and fill the chamber with glorious light. Shadows, made by the trees, dance gracefully across the floor. I wonder if Marie Antoinette watched the waving tree shadows? I wonder, too, if she appreciated the intrinsic beauty of the spot?

I have read, on certain Sunday's, Marie Antoinette would entertain her children at the Belvedere. Perhaps she sat on the marble steps, leaning her back against a lioness, and watched as the dauphin skipped rocks into her pond. If I remain very still, I think I can almost hear the soft, lilting laughter of her daughter, Madame Royale.

Marie Antoinette hosted magnificent night parties at the Petite Trianon. The grounds would be illuminated with lamps tucked in bushes and hung from trees. It takes little effort to picture the Belvedere, ablaze with torches, as the setting of a charming night festival. The sky would have been black and smooth, not a cloud to be seen. The stars would have twinkled above, contrasting the inky darkness like diamonds tossed on black velvet. In the magnificent The Private Realm of Marie Antoinette, by Marie-France Boyer, suggests Marie Antoinette's night parties may have been inspired by the paintings of Watteau. I find this suggestion very plausible. Watteau, a master of mood and atmosphere, had the ability to simplify the confusion of nature. Orange leaves, brown branches, green grass, blue skies. In Watteau's hands, the garishness of nature was transformed to subtle shifts of light and dabs of blended color. Marie Antoinette's pavilion is very Watteau-esque. Nature is harnessed by the simple building and pared-down setting. Attending a night festival at the Belvedere must have been a surreal experience, stirring and yet soothing.

The young queen (she was only 37 years old when she died), her life filled with the turmoil of court politics, enjoyed innocent diversions. Rehearsing plays, hosting musicals, playing on see-saws, betting on games of chance, engaging in games of blind man's bluff, these were some of the things Marie Antoinette did to remain stirred. Once, when the Austrian Ambassador advised her against keeping such a frantic schedule. She sadly responded, "I am terrified of being bored."

Boredom. It would aid to her undoing. Her pursuit of pleasure and stimulation caused her to be terribly short-sighted. She failed to grasp the complexities and ramifications of her actions. Although her spending was far less than that of Madame de Pompadour, Louis XV's mistress, it was still great enough to raise the ire of the French. Night festivals, splendid ball gowns, a charming little hamlet, the expenses were grudgingly noted by many. Unbeknownst to her, Marie Antoinette came to Versailles dragging a rope behind her. The French were not fond of foreign-born queen's, especially ones of Austrian descent. Building the Belvedere added just one more knot in the noose that would hang her.

And yet, I adore the Belvedere. I love the gentle slope of the lawn, the ripples in the pond, the coolness of the marble. I love the way it stands upon a rock, higher than the Petite Trianon, as if announcing it's autonomy. For me, the Belvedere offered a brief but welcomed respite from oppressive emotions. My odd melancholy evaporated when I took the doorknob in my hand, but returned as soon as I descended the steps of the Belvedere. I am a romantic, it is true. I am ruled by emotions far more than logic. I am passionate not pragmatic. That being said, I also have to admit, I have always looked skeptically at people who have claimed to have been visited by ghosts. I figured, since I had never had a paranormal experience neither had they. My visit to Versailles and the Belvedere altered my opinions about the paranormal. I am not claiming to have seen the Ghosts of Versailles, I did not perform a seance and conjure up the spirit of Marie Antoinette. There was no warping of time or traveling through dimensions. I simply felt a strong, inexplicable negative emotion the moment I entered Versailles. The emotion was lifted, as if someone had removed a heavy cloak from around my shoulders, when I walked around the Belvedere. The cloak of emotion was placed back on my shoulders when I left the Belvedere and continued my tour through the grounds of Versailles. I have no explanations for my shift in mood, though I like to think that, for a brief time, I shared emotions with a woman I have long admired.

"How delightful were these groves scented with lilacs, peopled by nightingales . . . the queen spent most of the fine season there." Baroness Oberkirch remarking on the grounds of Petite Trianon

Mother's Day: Marie Antoinette Style

2011-05-08T14:40:00.000-07:00

This charming portrait of Marie Antoinette with two of her three children, Princess Marie Therese Charlotte of France and Dauphin Louis Joseph of France, was painted in May 1785 by Elizabeth Vigee Lebrun. Behind them is the Temple de l'Armour, a beautiful pavilion designed by Richard Mique and constructed in the informal gardens at La Petite Trianon.

One can't help but wonder if Antoinette sensed what was to come and elected to have this portrait painted to serve evidence of her uncommon love for and devotion to her children.

Many have accused her of capriciousness and vice, but only the most wicked have suggested she did not adore her children.

This Mother's Day, I hope you take a moment to silently give thanks for the woman who gave you life. And if you are a mother, take a cue from Antoinette, and cherish your children before it is too late. All the best.

18th Century Mechanical Ladies Desk

2011-05-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

The J. Paul Getty Museum has a new exhibition that is sure to leave you titillated! Paris: Life & Luxury in 18th Century France features everyday items from a long-ago era, like a mechanical table with secret compartments.

If you click on the photo of the desk, it will open an informative and fascinating video about the desk and how it operated.

Princess Elisabeth, Faithful Sister of Louis XVI

2011-05-03T14:24:00.000-07:00

Élisabeth by
Vigee-Lebrun

 On this day in 1764, Élisabeth-Phippine-Marie-Hélène de France, daughter of the Dauphin Louis, son of Louis XV, and Marie-Josèphe de Saxe, was born at Versailles.

Grandaughter of the King of France. Daughter of the Dauphin of France. Sister of King Louis XVI and beloved friend and sister-in-law of Marie Antoinette.

Although her ancestry is impressive, she is known more for her impeccable behavior and unmatched loyalty (as you will soon learn).

Much has been written about Princess Élisabeth. Every Marie Antoinette blog on the internet offers a biography about this brave, loyal woman, so out of deep respect for you, my learned and treasured reader, I have resisted the urge to regurgitate the more mundane points of her life. Instead, I ventured into my archives and unearthed a few rare tidbits about this fabulous princess.

Tidbits about Princess Élisabeth of France:

Like many women of her era, Élisabeth enjoyed reading and letter writing. This rosewood and bronze desk was made by the sought-after ébéniste Guillaume Benneman for Élisabeth's private apartments at the Château de Compiègne. The sides are of inlaid wood. Today, it resides at Versailles and is sometimes displayed in the rooms of the Petit Trianon or in the King's Apartments in the palace.
If you would like to read the Life and Letters of Madame Élisabeth, click here.
The King's sister was known for her piety and charity.
Marie Antoinette asked Élisabeth to look after Madame Royale's religious and moral upbringing. Later in her life, Marie Antoinette's daughter was often praised for her strength and admirable character. Élisabeth deserves some of the credit in the development of her niece's fortitude and attitude.
Louis Charles (Élisabeth's nephew) was a rather active boy (today we might describe him as having ADHD). The restless, active boy found it difficult to settle down at night and fall asleep. Often, Élisabeth would hold her nephew while Marie Antoinette played lullabies on her harp. (Would you like to see a photograph and learn more of Marie Antoinette's harp? Click here)

Jean-Baptiste Boulard, the talented cabinetmaker who created many splendid pieces for the royal family of France, made this charming chair for Élisabeth's private apartment at the Château de Compiègne.
Élisabeth was a skilled seamstress who enjoyed doing petit point. The petit point tapestry on this chair was created by the Princess.
If you would you like to see another one of Élisabeth's chairs, please click here.
Like her brother Louis, Élisabeth loved horses and was an accomplished rider.
Élisabeth was a skilled drawer. Several of her drawings are on display at Versailles.
Also like her brother, Élisabeth enjoyed working with her hands. As I already mentioned, she enjoyed embroidery. She also owned a printing press and enjoyed working on it.

Montreuil

Devoted to her brother and country, she refused to marry, preferring to stay in France.
Recognizing his sister's private nature, Louis XVI gave Élisabeth a charming country estate on the outskirts of Paris. This home was called Montreuil and Élisabeth adored it.
Montreuil had a dairy. Élisabeth donated the milk from her dairy to a local foundling hospital.
If you would like to learn more about Montreuil, please read Elena Maria Vidal's wonderful post on Tea at Trianon.
Élisabeth was at Montreuil on the 5th of October of 1789, when she received the news that an angry mob was marching on Versailles. She left her home and returned to the palace at once.
Élisabeth volunteered to accompany her brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew to prison.

Sacred Heart

When guards searched the cell of Louis XVII (the son of Louis and Antoinette), they found a small embroidered Sacred Heart. The Sacred Heart (a heart pierced by an arrow) was the symbol of the counter-revolutionaries in the Vendee. Princess Elisabeth gave her nephew the Sacred Heart.
For the Flight to Varennes, the royal family's ill-fated escape attempt, Elisabeth dressed as a nurse.
Born of a delicate nature, Elisabeth suffered from fainting fits. These fits increased near the end of her life, exacerbated, no doubt, by the enormous stress of being imprisoned by brutal guards and threatened daily with death.

Antoinette's last letter to
Elisabeth

After being sentenced to death, Marie Antoinette returned to her room in the Conciergerie, wept copious tears, and wrote a last letter to Elisabeth. She confided her children to her sister-in-law.
Although Robespierre never considered Élisabeth a threat, she was eventually brought to trial and found guilty of having assisted the King in his attempt to escape (Flight to Varennes). She was sentenced to death by guillotine.
Élisabeth died on May 10, 1794.
22 other souls lost their lives at the guillotine that day.

Élisabeth

Élisabeth's body was thrown in a common grave in the Cimetière des Errancis in Paris. The cemetary was used for victims of the guillotine but no longer exists.
Madame Royale considered her Aunt Élisabeth to be her second mother. Madame Royale wrote of her aunt, "I feel I have her nature . . . [she] considered me and cared for me as her daughter, and I, I honoured her as a second mother." (Marie-Thérèse: The Fate of Marie Antoinette's Daughter by Sophie Nagel, page 144)
Madame Royale mourned her aunt's passing for the rest of her life. She kept the dear woman's portrait near her at all times.
As she grew into adulthood, Madame Royale, Marie Antoinette's daughter, was often told she resembled her Aunt Élisabeth.

DID YOU ENJOY THIS ARTICLE? IF SO, WHY NOT CLICK ON THE BUTTON TO THE RIGHT AND FOLLOW THIS BLOG?! MERCI BEAUCOUP!

*Postscript ~ My dear friend and fellow member of Marie Antoinette's coterie, Madame Guillotine, sent me an email alerting me of her recent post on Madame Élisabeth. It's a very lovely tribute, so please do pop over and take a look, won't you?

A Note on Marie Antoinette's Harp

2011-05-03T14:22:00.000-07:00

Marie Antoinette did not enjoy traditional educational settings, but she did love to learn about music. She was a passionate patron of the arts, championing the musician Gluck, and a gifted harp player.

Jean-Henri Naderman, a master luthier, made this beautiful instrument for Marie Antoinette and delivered it to Versailles on her 19th birthday in 1774.

The sound board was hand painted, depicting Minerva, the patroness of artists.

Marie Antoinette would often play lullabies on this harp to soothe her active son, Louis Charles.

This harp is now the property of the Musee Mincipal, Vendome.

If you would like to hear one of Gluck's pieces being played on a harp, please click on the movie below.

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Tuesdays Tititllating Treasure: The Guérite

2011-05-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

"If his master be a rich man, and a charitable one, that master is being for ever applied to by the distressed, the needy, and the impostor … Hence is called into exercise the necessity for the porter's searching and discriminative eye, and his scrupulous pause before receiving a letter or answering an inquiry." Charles Pierce, The Household Manager

Where Porters Popped A Squat

c. 1754

Would you believe this elegant chair was originally designed for a servant?

This high-backed, canopied chair is called a Porter's Chair. Although the porter's chair was first used in medieval England as seating for invalids and the elderly, it became popular in 18th Century France and could be found in most aristocratic homes and palaces. In France, this chair was called a guérite (because it resembled a sentry box) or a sheperdess' confessional.

Usually constructed of wood or leather, it was placed by the front door of a chateau and used by the porter, who was tasked with screening guests and visitors.

The porter was usually a burly man, hence the rather large chair. Since palaces and chateaux were often cold and drafty, particularly in the foyer, the porter's chair was designed with a domed top and curved sides. This unique design helped keep the porter relatively warm. The chair also had armrests. Some had a notch on the armrest for hanging a lantern, while others had a little shelf attached to the armest that could be raised or lowered (like an airline tray) so a lantern could be placed upon it.

The first time I saw a porter's chair was at a chateau in Pau, France. It was a magnificent wooden chair with an exaggerated dome and slightly tattered blue damask upholstery. When my guide explained the chair's purpose and showed me a small, hidden compartment he said had been used to hide a weapon, my fertile writer's imagination spun a dozen stories.

Today, porter's chairs have become the object du jour in the interior design world. Kelly Wearstler, noted American interior designer and former judge on the television show Top Design, incorporated proter's chairs (to elegant effet) in her design of BG, Bergdorf Goodman's restaurant in New York City.

Even furniture stores are offering modern versions of this unique chair. Restoration Hardware has a burlap-backed porter's chair "in the grand style of 18th century chateaux" they call the Versailles Domed chair.

Where Can I See An Antique Porter's Chair?

Palais de Rohan, Strasbourg, France

Bank of England Museum

Museum of Furniture, Vienna, Austria

Aston Hall, Birmingham, England

Chateau de Pau, Pau, France

Where Can I Buy A Fabulous Porter's Chair For My Chateau?

Black Velvet Hollywood Porter's Chair

Versailles Domed Chair

Wacky Victorian Porter's Chair

Leather Chesterfield Porter's Chair

Fabulous French Upholstered Porter's Chair

MY FABULOUS FRENCH GOODIE BOX GIVE-AWAY

2011-04-27T12:05:00.000-07:00

The goal: 500 Fabulous Followers by July 7, 2011

I would love to have 500 followers by July 7, 2011 (which also happens to be the release date for my novel, Silence in the Mist) and I am hoping you will help me achieve that goal!

The details: Do you see the sidebar to the right of this box? Scroll down to where it says FABULOUS FOLLOWERS and FOLLOW THIS BLOG ON FACEBOOK. All you have two do is sign up to follow this blog and you will be entered to win a fab prize (more on that in a minute).

But wait! I want to increase your chances. So, I am giving you a second opportunity to enter the contest. If you leave a comment in the comment section following my article MORNING WITH A MASTER and you will be entered a second time!! That's two chances to win a fabulous prize! Just by clicking a few buttons!

The Goodies: The winner(s) will win a French-themed box filled with fabulous goodies - and I do mean FABULOUS - and an autographed copy of my novel, Silence in the Mist! (There are even a few Marie Antoinette related goodies in this box)

Winner Announced: July 7, 2011

Antoinette's Underwear

2011-04-26T19:01:00.000-07:00

I have done many alarming things over the years, but searching for a dead woman's clothes has been about the most alarming. I have leafed through dusty old costuming books, scoured museums, written to curators, and searched the web until my eyes were glazed and wide like a zombie - all in search of a gown, a slipper, or a scrap of a chemise that may have once belonged to my idol, Marie Antoinette. I have written to the royal palaces of Schonbrun and Hofburg in Austria as well as Versailles in France. I have spoken with officials at the Musee Carnavalet in Paris, the home of many well-preserved Marie Antoinette artifacts. The answer is always the same, "I am sorry Madame, but we do not have any of zee queen's gowns here. Perhaps you should try..."

Just when I would decide to give up the hunt, someone would raise the flag and off I would go.

I am asked all sorts of questions about the queen - from what her sexual inclinations were to the types of foods she preferred. The most popular questions, however, have to do with the queen's attire. I have been surprised by the number of inquiries about this aspect of the queen's life. That people who live two hundred and fifty years after she was born want to know about her clothing marks her as having been a fashionable woman.

The Queen's Underwear

A few years ago, I discovered the Queen's corset. It is preserved at the Musee Galliera in Paris, France. It is ironic that this particular piece of clothing has survived not only the ravages of time, but the ferocity of the Revolutionaries, and the avarice of thieves. Marie Antoinette hated corsets!

Whalebone or wire corsets were part of the regular wardrobe of a woman living in the 18th century. Even a pregnant woman was expected to wear a corset, though hers had side ties which could be loosened to accommodate growth. Children were put in corsets to help them with their posture.

As a girl, Marie Antoinette was expected to wear full court dress, like a diminutive adult. Her pint-sized wardrobe included a corset. It was probably a stiff whale-boned contraption with ties in back and front, but made of the finest materials of course. Visitors at her mother's court commented on the young Marie Antoinette's superb posture and bearing, surely due to the corset!

Once she moved to France, and out from under her mother's thumb, she decided to let it all hang out. She took to dressing without her corset. In no time at all, her mother found out about her wild ways and sent her a flurry of admonishing letters. How dare her daughter, the future Queen of France engage in such wanton behavior?

In a letter to Marie Antoinette's mother, Maria Theresa, the Austrian Ambassador writes:

"...HRH has finally agreed to wear a corset quite regularly."

In another letter, this one written by Maria Theresa to her daughter, she writes:

"...If you did not reassure me about the corsets you are wearing, I would be worrying about that, for fear of, as they say in German, auseinandergehen, schon die Taille wie eine Frau, ohne es zu sein. I ask you not to let yourself go: this would suit neither your age nor your place; it brings with it uncleanliness, negligence, and even a general carelessness; that is why I keep tormenting you about it..."

In still another letter, Maria Theresa offers to have some Austrian corsets made, which are not as "stiff as the ones in Paris."

Later, as Jean Jacques Rousseau's ideas of nature and simplicity began to take root, women all over France gladly traded their wire or whale-boned corsets for softer linen corsets. Some discarded the constrictive devices all together (Gasp)! Marie Antoinette joined the scandalous masses, preferring to romp around le Hameau kamikaze style - that is, sans corset!

Learn More:

Want to learn how to make a corset, find out where you can buy a corset, or get a pattern to make a corset? Click on one of the links below to learn more than you ever wanted to know about what one 18th century physician called "the greatest degradation to the human species."

All Tied-Up: The Corset in Contemporary Fashion

The Corset Connection

How To Make An 18th Century Corset

Historically Inspired Corsets and Corseted Wedding Gowns

Getting Naked in Public

2011-04-22T10:31:00.000-07:00

Though being Queen of France may have had its benefits in gowns and jewelry, it had its drawback too. Marie Antoinette's every action and reaction was watched and recorded by friends and foes.

Though it was the home of royalty, Versailles was not a private palace. Anyone could visit the Chateau, provided the were properly attired and checked their weapons at the door. Even the poorly dressed were not completely turned away, they could rent acceptable attire at the front guard shack. The foyers were packed with cloying courtiers, hoping to grab the ear of the king, and the bourgeoisie, hoping to catch even the slightest glimpse of the king or queen.

While she was dauphine, Marie Antoinette's schedule was filled from morning until night and didn't allow for privacy. In a letter to her mother, she details her daily schedule:

At 9 every morning, Marie Antoinette would rise, dress, say her prayers, and eat breakfast.
At 11 she would visit with the Mesdames in their Apartments. Sometimes the king would visit.
Chambre is called at noon. Marie Antoinette writes, "I put on my rouge and wash my hands before everybody. Then the gentlemen leave, the ladies stay, and I dress before them." She would then go to Mass.
After Mass, the royal family would dine in full view of the public.
Marie Antoinette and Louis would visit after lunch for about an hour.
At 3:00 Marie Antoinette would once again visit with the King and the Mesdames.
Abbe de Vermond, her priest, would consult with her and hear her confession at 4:00.
Marie Antoinette would take music lessons at 5:00, practicing the harpsichord and singing.
She would head back to the Mesdames Apartments at 6:30 for a brief visit.
From 7:00 until 9:00 she would play cards, go walking, or "go out."

When Marie Antoinette became queen, she loosened the strict court etiquette and sought more opportunities for privacy. Petite Trianon became her refuge, a place to escape the grind of royal schedules and constant public scrutiny.

Silence in the Mist: A Novel of the French Revolution

2011-04-20T00:21:00.000-07:00

Tales of Passion, Tales of Woe: An Interview with the Fabulous Sandra Gulland

2011-04-18T13:55:00.000-07:00

You might find this difficult to believe, but I have often been described as verbose. (Honestly, is it my fault words flow like the Niagara from my head to my tongue?)

So you would think writing an introduction to my interview with historical novelist Sandra Gulland, a writer I admire immensely, would be easy for me.

That's not the case.

I literally agonized over every word I typed. How does one go about describing Sandra Gulland? Is it merely enough to say that she wrote three acclaimed, bestselling novels about Josephine Bonaparte and another about Louis XIV's mistress, Louise de la Vallière? Do I tell readers that she was born in Miami, graduated college with a degree in literature, taught second grade in an Inuit Village, and then worked as a book editor?

Finally, I decided you, my clever, intelligent readers, would want to know why I was running an interview with Sandra Gulland.

Ten years ago, I read the first book in Sandra Gulland's trilogy about Josephine Bonaparte and knew I wanted to write historical fiction. Her sumptuous novel about one of the more fascinating women in history was so richly woven with setting details and evocative prose, it lit a fire inside my writer's belly.

I had always been fascinated with Marie Antoinette and I had always been a writer, in one form or fashion, but it wasn't until I read Sandra's book I considered combining my two passions. A year later, after many crack of dawn writing sessions, I completed my first historical novel about Marie Antoinette. Since then, I have written five other historical novels.

My novels have not been published yet, but I know when they finally reach the hands of some smart editor who shares my penchant for the French Revolution, I will have Sandra Gulland to thank for it. Her novel inspired my novels.

So, without further ado, here is my interview with the fabulous and influential Sandra Gulland.

LMB: First, let me apologize in advance if the blatant fawning I am about to do over you and your novels causes you any discomfort. As you know (though my readers may not) I have been one of your more ardent devotees for ten years now (since I first discovered the Josephine B. trilogy). Thank you for graciously consenting to my requests for interviews (Ms. Gulland’s previous quotes have appeared in articles I wrote for Writers Digest and Writers Journal). Also, thanks for not misunderstanding my worshipfulness as something creepy. I promise, I am not a stalker!

SG: Leah, stalk on! I'm flattered.

LMB: I have always known I wanted to be a writer, but I did not know I wanted to write historical fiction until I read Rosalind Laker’s To Dance with Kings and your novel, The Many Lives and Secret Sorrows of Josephine B. (I guess that means, I have you to blame…I mean, thank, for this alternately agonizing and ecstatic ride down the road to publishing). Which authors have influenced your writing?

SG: The first historical novel that enchanted me was a slim, spare novel: A Walk with Love and Death by Hans Koning (then Koningberger). I adored this book, and carried it with me always. I still aspire to write a similar work: something short, elegant in every detail, tremendously romantic, yet tragic.

From Koning, I learned that historical fiction did not need to be flowery or long: the novel is only 144 pages long.

Here is the first sentence: "In the spring of that year, 1358, the peasants of northern France did not sow their fields any more."

That's a perfect detail.

In the next paragraph: "The war was in its twentieth year, but I was happy."

That says so much. Koning is a writer who hones every sentence; that's a writer I admire.

I wrote to Hans Koning several time, to let him how much his work meant to me; alas, by the time a letter did get through, he had died.

LMB: I have met my share of published authors and have found many of them to be rather narcissistic and competitive. One thing that has always impressed me about you is that you mentor new writers. Take your recent blog post, first instance: A reader asked you a question about dialogue and you offered a wonderfully instructive answer. What advice would you give to someone just starting a career in novel writing?

SG: (Thank you. You are kind.)

1) Understand that you are unlikely to earn money being a writer, and that the only reason to pursue such a vocation is that you're compelled to do so, simply for the love of it.

2) Understand that it takes a very long time to get to the point where you are publishable. (As in years.) It's similar to getting a doctorate.

3) Write, write, write: regardless. Revise. ("Revision" = re-vision.)

4) Understand that this is a craft that must to be learned, so study books on the craft of writing.

5) Read constantly—especially books similar to the ones you aspire to write.

6) Build up a Net 2.0 presence: set up a website, blog, Tweet, Facebook.

7) Don't send your manuscript out for consideration until 5 readers have told you that it's indeed ready to go.

8) Collect rejections: it's rare for a writer to be published without first having a stack of them. It's an important first step. Plus, it proves that you are tough enough to be a writer.

9) Go to readings: observe how it's done. As a writer, you will have a private self as well as a public one. Get comfortable with that.

10) Get to know other writers, on-line, off-line; join the community. Create your tribe.

11) Never give up.

LMB: Do you belong to any writer’s groups and what are your thoughts on them?

SG: I belong to two writer's groups—one back home in Canada, and another one south, at our winter home in Mexico. Both are very small and have mostly to do with emotional support. I rarely show work from a novel I'm in the process of writing: I think it's hard to evaluate a bit of a novel out of context. When a work is ready to show — a 3rd or 4th or 5th draft — I'll get them to read it.

LMB: How do you organize your notes before writing your first draft? Do you use note cards, a detailed outline, storyboards, bulletin boards?

SG: It seems to differ with each novel. For the one I'm writing now, I started with an outline—or, rather, a long list of scenes. The outline was based on an intricate timeline I keep on a computer file. The scene-by-scene outline was 30 to 40 pages long and I took it through 3 drafts. It was a tremendous help when writing the first draft. By the third draft, of course, everything had changed.

LMB: Your first three novels were written in the first person while your fourth novel was in third person POV. Which do you prefer to write in and why?

SG: I find the third person point-of-view challenging, but now I'm more comfortable with it. If you can "hear" the voice of your narrator, then the first person is a natural choice.

LMB: What are the benefits and drawbacks of writing in first person POV?

SG: The main benefit of the first person voice is that it's easier for the reader to connect with the narrator. The drawback is that you are limited when it comes to describing things—especially the narrator herself. (This is one reason the Trilogy includes letters: these provide another point-of-view.)

The language of the narrator can be a problem, depending on the character. If you are writing a mystery, the first person could be a drawback, as well. When I write third person, I tend to stick very close to the narrator: close third, it's called.

LMB: You skillfully weave historical details throughout your novels (like one character’s use of Compound Spirit of Lavender to restore her flagging spirits and another’s liberal use of Spanish Red). Do you have a card catalog for a brain or do you keep all of these fantastic little details in a notebook or computer file?

SG: I note everything down. (I use an outline program called Notebook, and the database programs EverNote and DevonThink.) With Kindle, now, my highlighted passages and notes are automatically saved onto computer. This saves a great deal of time.

LMB: And what’s your trick to keep your novels from reading like history books? How do you weave those things in there so deftly and naturally?

SG: Thank you! I think it's simply a matter of rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. When something bores me or feels sluggish, out it goes.

LMB: What’s your best tip or technique for “getting into the head” of a character?

SG: It takes time, so I guess my best tip is to have patience. I do all the usual things—create a bio, a horoscope, imagine an interview with them—but even so, it takes many, many drafts for characters to emerge.

LMB: Method actors talk about getting deep into character to help them pull off a better, more believable role. What do you do to really bring your characters to life, particularly when writing dialogue?

Gulland in character

SG: Again, for me, it all happens on the page. It does help to have been to their homes, to have dressed in their clothes; I can better imagine them as they move through their world. I'll go through on-line photographs, looking for their face: this helps a lot. I have an extensive questionnaire I fill out about them. Even so, for me, characters come to life on the page and nowhere else.

LMB: Your first three novels were about Josephine Bonaparte. Your fourth novel was about Louise de la Vallière, beloved mistress of the prodigiously sexual and rarely satiated Louis XIV. Both of these women were attached to powerful men who ultimately cast them aside. What is it about these women that aroused your sympathies?

SG: Each was different. What interested me about Josephine was that her amazing life was foretold. I find this astonishing. For Louise, I was curious about her extraordinary horsemanship. Clearly, she couldn't have been a passive young lady—and yet that's how she has been portrayed. For each, it was curiosity that drew me to them. For the novel I'm writing now, my main character was part of the theatrical world before joining the Court: that interests me greatly.

LMB: Perhaps, I have made an erroneous assumption. Was it your sympathy for Louise and Josephine that prompted you to write your novels or did you just think their lives would translate into riveting novels?

SG: For both Josephine and Louise, I was personally compelled by their story as well as by them as individuals. I was fascinated enough to want to spend almost a decade with each of them. I had to trust that at the end of that long process, I would have a story that interested others as well. It was not too much of a gamble, however. Whenever there's a wow-factor in a life, there's sure to be a good novel in it.

LMB: Do you think a historical novelist should be sympathetic or unbiased? Is it possible to be both?

SG: I'm not sure it's possible to be unbiased, and if it were possible, I'm not sure it would result in an emotionally moving novel. For me, I'm entirely biased according to my point-of-view character. The novel I'm writing now does not see Louise de la Vallière in a good light, for example, because the story is told from another point-of-view.

LMB: I think you have read my blog, so you must know that I like to ask a few odd ball questions during my interviews. I am sorry to say, even though I am in awe of your mad writing skills, I can’t repress the desire to ask you a few. So, here they are:

If you woke tomorrow and found yourself a guest at Josephine’s Malmaison, what’s the first thing you would do?

SG: (I love odd-ball questions.) If I woke up at Malmaison, I think I'd take an early morning walk in Josephine's gardens. It would be lovely if I happened upon Napoleon and Josephine there.

LMB: What burning question would ask her?

SG: I would ask her a very rude question: I would want to know what exactly was her relationship with Captain Charles. Were they lovers? Friends? Was it strictly a business relationship? All these are possible, and only Josephine and Charles know.

LMB: Fab question! Now, let’s be honest, we have all pinched a towel or a bar of soap from a hotel room. What item would you pinch before being whisked from Malmaison back to your home in Canada?

SG: Roses, which I would then dry—and treasure.

LMB: Which of Josephine’s lovers or associates do you think you would fancy the most? And why? (Just so you don’t think I am unfair in asking you to expose yourself in such a manner, I will confess my secret historical crush. I dig Napoleon. It’s true. I know he was brusque and domineering but I find his intensity and audaciousness attractive.)

SG: I'd love to hang out with Bonaparte. I've a crush on him too. Whenever I used to see a painting or statue of him, I'd think: Hi, little sweetie. (Poor Bonaparte: that's so undignified!)

LMB: And finally, assuming reincarnation is possible; who do you think you were in a previous life?

SG: In the Napoleonic era: Aunt Fanny! (Editor's Note: For those of you unfamiliar with the people of that era, Fanny de Beauharnais was Josephine Bonaparte's aunt. It was because of Aunt Fanny's ministrations that Josephine travelled from Martinique to France and married Eugene de Beauharnais, who eventually died at the guillotine) At the court of the Sun King, maybe Clorine, Louise de la Vallière's maid. I love the wacky characters best.

LMB: That’s it for the odd ball questions. Thank you for indulging me.

I know that you like to travel to the settings of your novels, can you tell me about your most memorable trip in preparing to write the Josephine B. series?

SG: The research trip I will never forget was the first, of course. I'd never been to Paris: I was enchanted, literally. The year before, I'd had the good fortune of consulting with Jane Urquhart, the Writer in Residence at the University of Ottawa. I took her the manuscript of what was to become the Josephine B. Trilogy. She told me, "You have to go to Paris." And so I did.

Josephine's bed

LMB: Which of Josephine’s treasures has titillated you the most (an object you have seen in a museum or at Malmaison)?

SG: I longed to try on her crown (also to stretch out on her bed). If only!

LMB: I know that Louise de la Vallière was an accomplished equestrian. I also know that you took a tour of the Loire Valley on horseback. How did that trip give help you to write Mistress of the Sun?

SG: An "experiential" research trip such as this one gave me a visceral sense of 17th century travel: the slow pace of moving through a landscape on horseback, the sound of the horses' hooves cantering into a palace courtyard, the daily routine of getting on and off a horse, the smell, the sweat, the sores. It's an experience I will never forget. You can't get that through books.

LMB: Which books are on your nightstand?

SG: How quickly things have changed: the only "book" on my nightstand is my iPad, but it's full of titles. Right now I'm reading Kate Atkinson's newest novel, Started Early, Took My Dog. I find her delightful. I'm also reading How to Write a Sentence; And How to Read One by Stanley Fish, as well as Blood Work: A Tale of Medicine and Murder in the Scientific Revolution, by the wonderful Holly Tucker. Next up: Parisians; An Adventure History of Paris by Graham Robb, a great writer, and, for fiction, The Paris Wife by Paula Mclain. You can see that I'm longing for Paris!

LMB: I have had a lot of serendipitious moments while researching and writing my novels, some of which I have shared on my blog. Have you had anything odd happen while you were writing your books – anything that made you wonder if a higher power was nudging you along the path?

SG: It's true that when you ask "the universe"—that is, open yourself up to the questions—answers appear. I personally don't attribute it to a higher power, although it's certainly possible.

LMB: Will you tell us a little about your WIP?

SG: My next novel is, again, biographical historical fiction. It is set in the 17th century French court of the Sun King—the same time and place as Mistress of the Sun. While the theme of Mistress was horsemanship, the theme of this novel is the theatrical world of that period. The novel is based on the real-life story of Claude des Oeillets, daughter of a theatrical diva. As waiting-maid to Madame de Montespan—the King's ultimate "power" mistress—she becomes involved in witchcraft and has a child by the King herself. Yes, a complex story!

LMB: Merci beaucoup, Madame Gulland. I appreciate you taking time out of your busy life to answer the questions of this humble journalist.

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