19.00 USD
One of our favorite and most magical subgenres of "Lovely Lady" postcards has to be that of the marvelous maenad. Idealized and presumably toned down versions of those wild maidens of ancient Greece, the maenad, as an image, was practically the poster girl of La Belle Epoque, expressing that rich, earthy, "joie de vivre," which has come to be seen as so representative of the era.
Great Art Nouveau image of stage performer Myriel in classical attire and holding aloft the thyrsus, ancient symbol of Bacchus. Produced by Leopold Reutlinger of Paris, circa 1905, this image was used as one in a series specifically representing celebrants of the Bacchanal! In this series, rather than bearing the title Myriel, the card was titled Bacchante Au Thyrse. There were at least two cymbal images in this series as well, one with Myriel, and another in which a different artiste named Beauregard was posed similarly. Additionally, there was another image of Mlle. Beauregard in which she upended a ewer, presumably filled with wine, titled Bacchante Buvant, which simply means " a bacchante drinking."
The thyrse, beyond its modern botanical meaning, is French for the Greek thyrsus, a ceremonial staff topped with a pine cone, often decorated with ivy, and carried by Bacchus (Ivy incidentally, was according to the late English poet and historian Robert Graves, was one of the key ingredients used in brews by those wild celebrants to drive them into a frenzy. Let's definitely NOT try this at home ;).
Lovely 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!