14.00 USD
A very unusual image of actress Suzanne Miéris, playing the part of the Greek slave, Eunice, in Émile Moreau's Quo Vadis, probably at the Théâtre Antoine, Porte-Saint-Martin, in Paris.
Quo Vadis, a play based upon a tremendously successful novel by Polish author Henryk Sienkiewicz, was a great hit, and Mlle. Miéris toured with the production as far away from Paris as Brazil. It seems likely that this role catapulted her into stardom, as most of the images we find of her, show her wearing this costume.
"Quo Vadis," the novel, was also a huge bestseller here in the USA, by the way. Like "Ben Hur," and written at around the same time, it was one of those sprawling romances of popular Christian literature, and probably rivaled "Ben Hur" in popularity for a time.
We wrote that "probably" her name was Suzanne, because we've found several references to her in which she is called Yvonne. We haven't yet found any definite information offering us a first name, nor any biographical information whatsoever.. All of our references, thus far, have been from snippets in recent articles, blog posts, and other card dealer's listings. However, since we found many more Suzannes than Yvonnes, we're betting on the former (This is a constant challenge one faces in online research. With the best of intentions, "John" says her name is Yvonne. "Mary" repeats it. "Peter" does the same, and suddenly we all take it for fact! Unfortunately, as time passes, documentary evidence crumbles to dust, and we can only do our best).
Incidentally, there was a Zany Miéris, who appeared in at least one silent film of Mlle. Miéris' era. Stage actresses of that time, frequently appeared in early examples of the "new" motion picture medium and though we have no established connection, "Zany" makes a wonderful nickname for Suzanne, don't you think?
Because there is no photographer attribution on the card, we're guessing this wonderful montage image was created, by the Kunzli brothers, from an original portrait by Leopold Reutlinger of Paris, who definitely produced a number of images of Miéris in this costume.
The Kunzli brothers, Karl and Max, of Zurich Switzerland, were in the art publishing business as early as the 1870s. Small wonder then, that when the postcard craze occurred at the turn of the century, they jumped in with both feet. Also, their experience in art publishing (they were particularly well known for their top notch chromolithographs), gives us a better understanding of the very "pictorialist" quality of many of their photographic images. This one is more reminiscent of Reutlinger's own photo-montage renditions of his portrait work, but still has very much the feel of the Kunzli brothers' work. Gorgeous. This card was published by their French satellite, Kunzli Freres (Kunzli Brothers, or just KF of Paris). minor wear to edges and corners, and a gentle thumb crease in the center, and another in the lower right hand corner. If you collect Mlle. Miéris images, please note that despite the card's minor faults, in some years of combing through these wonderful old Belle Epoque cards, this is the only time we've come across this particular card, or for that matter, a shot of her in this particular pose, making this one, for us at least, a rarity.
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!