18.00 USD
Beautiful Lorelei image, published by Rotophot, possibly autographed by the artiste, and posted in 1904.
This card was posted in Lima, Peru, in 1904. The two decades that passed between the early 1880s, when Peru was defeated by Chilean forces in the War of the Pacific, and the early 1900s, when this card was published, was a time of renewal for that coastal South American city.
Distance does breed ignorance. Few Americans today (including ourselves), if asked to create an image in their minds of Lima, Peru in the early 1900s, would manage much more than a blurry picture of a rural Andean riding on a llama, but Lima was a burgeoning city. The powerful, wealthy class of Peruvians that had arisen, in part, as a result of an exploitation of Peru's natural resources in the mid 1800s, wanted European culture, and paid well for it. They wore Parisian fashions, Haute cuisine, and famous artistes of Belle Epoque Paris, like Lina Cavalieri, toured the Americas, appearing in theaters and opera houses there.
Lorelei, though a ghostly, romantic, figure associated with a rocky promontory overlooking the Rhine river in Germany, and popularized by the great German poet Heinrich Heine, excited the imagination of people the world over. It's not unlikely then, that the opera, Loreley, by Alfredo Catalani (first performed in 1880), was appreciated in Lima, a city, built on a plain where rivers ran into the sea.
Was the person who signed the front of this card, Maria Luistina Lopez, a theatrical performer? Her signature is certainly placed like an autograph, and she might well have been, but unfortunately, if she was, we haven't been able to dig up any history on her. Still, this wonderful Lorelei, looking very much like an unattributed image by German photographer Heinrich Traut, is certainly an evocative beauty!
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!