18.00 USD
Ellaline Terriss (1871-1971) was a great favorite among English theater goers. She had a varied and very successful career. This photograph was taken when she played the part of Joan of Arc at London's Coliseum Theater, in April of 1911.
The magnificent suit of armor she is wearing in this image, was actually designed in 1910 by Sir Guy Laking, The Keeper of the King's Armoury (a post created by King Edward VII specifically for Sir Guy in 1902). The armor was then used in a number of productions on the British stage until 1916, when it was purchased by a private collector.
Then, by a circuitous route, and passing through the hands of a few owners, the costume was eventually worn by Jean Seberg, a young starlet discovered out of 18,000 hopeful teenagers, and cast as Joan of Arc in Otto Preminger's 1957 film adaptation of G.B. Shaw's "Saint Joan."
(Incidentally, Barbara Streisand was just one of the 18.000 girls who lost out to Miss Seberg in this contest. We kind of get that...I mean, we can't help but imagine her as Joan of Arc, and suddenly breaking into that cross-eyed funny face she is so famous for, and if she'd gotten the part, and gone down that very different road, what about "Funny Lady," etc.?). This is but one variety of very important question we puzzle out here at Red Poulaine each and every day, where we strive, through the hawking of antique postcards, to solve that age old question of humankind's place in relation to the universe. Very serious stuff!
In 2011, at a little over 100 years old, this suit of armor, having eventually found its way into the private collection of Hollywood star Debbie Reynolds, was sold by her at auction, bringing the unexpected sum of $46,125.00 dollars!
We usually try to compose a listing based on the life and work of the actor, or "artiste," pictured on the card, and hopefully, we'll write more about Miss Terriss on another occasion.
Sometimes we compose a listing based around the work of the photographer, or even the publisher, of the postcard.
This is the first time we've written a listing primarily about a costume! Wheee! That was fun :) Someone should write a screenplay of linked mini-dramas revolving around the armor's creation, the actors who wore it, the collectors who loved it, the two world wars it survived, etc. Okay, we don't generally tend to enjoy that kind of thing, but even so!
Link below to the great blog where we got our history on this wonderful costume:
http://docublogger.typepad.com/seberg/2012/02/seberg-st-joan-armor-outsells-day-streisand-garland-gable.html
A gorgeous card in very nice, unposted condition.
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!