26.00 USD
Born Consuelo Tamayo, La Tortajada (1867-1957), though she is less well remembered today, was at least as famous, in her time, as that other great Spanish artiste of the period, Caroline "Belle" Otero.
Raised in a convent, she was stolen away (though perhaps not quite literally), at the age of 14, by her music teacher, composer Ramon Tortajada. They married, she took his name, and a star was born. Okay, it no doubt took a great deal of work, but under the tutelage of Ramon and his sister, she was soon a great artiste, touring internationally, and appearing before the crowned heads of Europe to great acclamation.
Though remaining married to her husband, she received the same gifts of jewels and gold as Otero and other artistes of the period, men fought duels over her honor, dramatic scandals were written up in the newspapers, most of them, such as the one about her being kidnapped by a Zulu prince while touring South Africa, were invented (apparently), some of them, like the one about a Frenchman fighting a duel with a Russian officer over her bruised honor, and running the scoundrel through, (again, apparently) true. As far as the duels were concerned, she did not approve in the least, and thought the gifts of jewels a far more appropriate homage! Well, she was certainly sensible!
After some thirty years a performer, she granted her dying mother's last wish, that she leave the sinful environment of the theater behind, and retired quietly to Grenada, Spain. She and her husband lived there, on a palatial estate, until, so the story goes, he ran off with a lot of her wealth...and the cook too, the Beast!
Still, all was not lost. She was loved, honored, and regarded a very elegant lady, who kept a fine figure, and remained a great beauty to the end of her days, when at the age of ninety, she passed away.
Images of La Tortajada are not particularly common, and this is one of the very finest we have seen.
Minor corner and edge wear. 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.
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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!