24.00 USD
Martha Harvey, Circus Acrobat Costume, by Georg Gerlach of Berlin, circa 1905
Absolutely exquisite image of Jugendstil stage performer Martha Harvey by Gerlach. We've come across other images of this beautiful young woman, costumed similarly and also by Gerlach, but no history on her as of yet. We might jump to the conclusion that she was English or American, going by her name, but then think of Lilian Harvey, one of the most famous and well known German film stars of the silent and early talkie eras. She was born in England, it's true, and to an English mother, but her father was German and she moved to Germany while very young and lived there for almost her entire professional life.
Stars of the stage and early screen were in those days, if they chose to be, truly citizens of the world. Some were great adventuresses. We've run across examples of artistes who traversed the borders between enemy countries during wartime, granted privileges few ordinary citizens would have enjoyed, only to act as spies for their mother countries, risking death, or sometimes, as spies for their countries' enemies. After all, look at Mata Hari! Had she not been given such freedom to move about, the accusations of espionage would never have arisen, and she was by no means the only entertainer to be used in that way.
Star of the Parisian cabaret, Constance (Elise) Devere, for example (an Englishwoman by blood), had associations with the French Resistance during the run up to WWII, though how far that went, we've no idea.
Fern Andra, American silent film star of the early German cinema, who lived and worked mostly in Germany, spied for the allies during WWI and once, at least according to her own memoires, almost faced a German firing squad.
The Australian can-can dancer Saharet, seems to have preferred Germany as a home, was greatly loved there, and was married to a German who was later detained in the US for suspected espionage during WWI. These are just a few. The list goes on :)
But back to Martha Harvey...I don't think we've ever seen a more perfect image of the "hourglass" acrobat costume than this. Nothing remarkable about the pose, true, but the woman herself, such an ethereal beauty, and the print quality in this card is so very fine!
Great condition on this unposted card, circa 1905/10. 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.
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