19.00 USD
Fantastic Art Nouveau image of a young woman decorated in all the bangles and bijoux of the period, published by M.J.S. and drawn by an unidentified artist. On second glance, or perhaps on first glance, you will notice that this is a "hand-mirror" themed image. Portraits of young ladies holding hand-mirrors were ubiquitous in Belle Epoque France, almost as if the mirror was itself a facet of beauty. This was a less common feature in American postcards, perhaps harking back to the way our Puritan forebears shunned the looking-glass, but the Belle Epoque expressed itself as a celebration of life, at its most beautiful, and in a very robust way.
This is not to suggest that French women of that time were satisfied being merely bound to the boudoir, making themselves pretty, and were not touched by the thirst for equal rights
that was blossoming elsewhere in the world, across the channel in England, and in America. Our research definitely suggests otherwise. But perhaps the very active role the women of France took in its political revolutions played a part in the different expression of those shared aspirations.
Also, as we have observed in previous listings, there clearly existed in the France of that time, as elsewhere in the world, a longing for some past golden era, an imagined time of beauty and simplicity (that all of us, and not just weird postcard dealers, probably long for from time to time), a time long before the iron and steel of industry that was so rapidly altering the landscape of their world.
Images of woodland goddesses, sprites, fairies, maenads, etc. convey the idea that beauty was not merely worshiped in its concrete, physical forms, but also in an abstract, almost spiritual way, so that in a France of very devoted church-goers, there seems to have coexisted a kind of neo-paganism that people of that era could embrace without contradiction, or crisis of faith.
In fact, if anything, that worship of beauty might have supported spiritual practice in general, considering that the trend toward secularism in western society seems to have walked hand in hand with the end of la Belle Epoque, and with political upheavals leading to the First World War, and the consequent expansion of industry.
Vast oversimplification? Probably :) but these images always give rise to ideas, which we love sharing. Some of you share back, too, which we love even more!!!
Anyhow...a really lovely Art Nouveau card of a kind we are seldom able to bring into the shop and share with you. Hope you love it as much as we do!
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, the price is the same as for a single 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, due to the costs of international shipping 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!