16.00 USD
Au Bord du Puits, or At the Well, a truly lovely image of a young woman drawing water. This is an unidentified photogravure of actress Lilian Greuze by Reutlinger of Paris, and one of five cards, out of a series of probably six, that we recently acquired for the shop.
After initially listing this card, we were contacted by one of our wonderful customers with the information that the model in this image is none other than Mlle. Lilian (also Lillian) Greuze, French stage actress, model, and later, film actress. We have no bio on her unfortunately, but we know she was associated with both Sarah (la Divine) Bernhardt, and Polaire, appeared in several silent films, and went on to appear in the talkies as well, into the 1930s!
The "woman at the well" as a theme, can easily be counted as its own sub-genre of picture postcards. Though perhaps not as collectible today as Pierrot, or paper moon images, at the time this card was printed, the "woman at the well" was a theme that resonated deeply.
Though technology and industry were moving forward with lightning speed by the year 1900, it was more part and parcel of the urban experience. Village life was still, in many places, not terribly different for the average villager than it had been a hundred years before.
Indoor plumbing was not the norm (actually, even in the 1970s, in the USA, though the "village well" may have been a forgotten fixture of the past, indoor plumbing was still a stranger to many rural American households) and the village, or shared, well in turn of the century France was, as it had always been, an important gathering place, a hub of village life.
In addition to those ancient mythical concepts of the well as a source of life, of wisdom, and so on, there is also a common association of the water jug, urn or vase, with womanhood, motherhood, and fertility. Add to that the fact that the well was often that place in the village where a young man or woman might first have begun a shy courtship with their future mate, and it is no wonder this theme was so very popular.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
The item you are considering for purchase is, unless otherwise noted, a vintage postcard of approximately 5 and 1/2, by 3 and 1/2 inches. Postage is for fully-insured, first class shipping in a secure photo mailer (to avoid any damage to your purchase in the mails), and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will not charge for 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 increases in international shipping rates 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!