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39.00 USD
Literally a "pin-up" of Méaty Fleuron, please note there are four tiny pin holes in this card, one each in the upper right and left corners, and two in the bottom center, within the blank space reserved for messages beneath the image.
We know that Méaty Fleuron was performing at Aix-les-Bains in 1893 and practically nothing more than that at this point. She was the sister of Lise Fleuron, the better known of the two.
We've never had a nude portrait of either Lise, or Méaty, Fleuron before, never even seen one! This is almost certainly quite a rare card and will be a valuable addition to any collection of Belle Epoque postcards.
Clearly, this image celebrates a body shape that was more popular at the turn of the century than since and raises a number of questions, but we don't really have the space in this venue for a discussion as involved as that would be.
Most images of Méaty Fleuron we find, like those of her sister Lise, are a tad on the suggestive side. Often she wears the skin-tight body suits popular in that era. Monsieur Oricelly of Paris was also the photographer of most of the other images of her we've seen.
It's likely that Méaty, like her sister, was born in the 1870s in Alsace-Lorraine. Lise Fleuron was actually born Marguerite Rauscher, Rauscher, therefore, was probably Méaty's name also. If that reads very German to you, it's because the region of Alsace-Lorraine, a border-land, was for a very long time under the control of France, and then Germany, and then back again, and so on.
However, when Prussia annexed Alsace-Lorraine in the early 1870s, Herr, or Monsieur, Rauscher, declared French, rather than German, nationality.
The name Fleuron suggests a flower-shaped jewel and it may or may not be coincidental that in 1884, the French author Georges Ohnet, a popular novelist of the period whose name, at the time, was as well known as that of his contemporary, Emile Zola, published a work of fiction titled "Lise Fleuron." This novel spun the tale of a young girl...her fall from innocence...her gradual climb to success in the theaters of Paris...romance, scandal, and according to at least one British reviewer, a lack of morality, which might be why it quickly sold through more than 100 editions! When attempting to research the Fleuron sisters, we run across page after page of references to this novel.
Would it be so surprising to learn that a young actress adopted the name of a very famous fictional siren of the stage and that her sister Méaty followed suit? Maybe not so much :) She would have enjoyed immediate "brand recognition," at the very least.
The two sisters were very popular stage performers (and postcard queens) of the late 1800s and very early 1900s. Their time was generally a good decade before most of the stage artistes featured on our cards, and by the beginning of WWI (1914), the end of that beautiful era (la Belle Epoque), their popularity seems to have waned.
A remarkable find in nice unposted condition. The apparent circular blemish near the bottom edge of the image appears to be a concentration of silvering...not sure how this might have happened, whether a flaw in production, or a drop of some substance after printing.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. Postage is for fully-insured, first class shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will not charge for postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more. We do not charge for insurance or shipping materials, and as of the date of this listing are still charging below our overall cost on shipping.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!
