17.00 USD
Mlle. Marie Marville was a very popular stage personality of la Belle Epoque, and the great number of her postcard images speaks not only to her popularity onstage, but to her popularity in the eyes of the public at large.
Unfortunately, unlike some "postcard queens" of the era, among whom were such luminaries as dancer and courtesan La Belle Otero, and possibly the most famous today, the ballerina and interpretive soloist Cleo de Merode, whose histories are readily available in a number of books and online, we haven't yet found anything of note on the life of Mlle. Marville, but we will certainly keep looking.
This is a wonderful pose, and an unusual one! We've come across a few of these almost "risque" back shots of other performers, but never one of Marville, and it will probably sell quickly to one of our customers who collect images of this artiste. (that is not to say that this is a rare card, but that in a few years of pouring over these images, we haven't seen one before, which makes it at least quite scarce :)
Also unusual, is the publisher. Most of the very early postcard images by Leopold Reutlinger, those printed on what our French friends call "precurseur" cards (those with the undivided backs), were published by SIP (Société Industrielle de Photographie), while this one was published by the then fledgling German publisher Rotophot, of Berlin, as indicated by the RPH logo in the bottom left corner of the card. Interestingly, this particular logo lacks the circle that usually surrounds the RPH. This must be a very early Rotophot card, indeed. Why do we love this work? Well, one reason would be moments like this one, when we feel like a botanist in the Amazon, finding a rare flower. Silly? Yup :)
Very nice condition on this one.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the 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 sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
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!