24.00 USD
Here at Red Poulaine, we have a special place in our hearts for the Italian actress images of the early 1900s and into the 1920s. The quality of the portrait photography and subsequent postcard publication was particularly rich, with a flair for the dramatic and mysterious. Many of our favorites, like Anna Fougez and Nella Regini, began their careers as sciantose, a variation on the French term chanteuse, meaning female singer, but bringing to it other meanings, and implying a dark, mysterious, exotic quality that appealed to the theater going public at the time, and certainly appeals to us :) Naturally we love all of our images or we probably wouldn't purchase them for our shop, and feel an almost filial affection for the performers onto whom we project imagined personalities and traits (is that weird? :), but there is something about what seems to have been at the time a very Italian penchant for carrying the illusion of the stage and screen out into the public venue, a tendency to make even larger, the already "larger than life" persona of the theatrical personality, that we really love. So we have decided to open a new section devoted exclusively to these Italian artistes. We call it "La Bella Donna," and yes it is a bit of a play on words, given the tendency in many of these cards to focus on qualities of a "femme Fatale" type. We hope you will enjoy these images as much as we do.
Wonderful find! Nella is another one of our very favorite "Bella Donnas" Hugely famous Italian star of the light operetta and silent film. She was a really lovely soprano. Check her out on YouTube! Always a treat when we find autographed items, but this is even better! A very kind fellow Etsy seller from Italy, Katiuscia Herrera, who runs the wonderful shop, UnBaulePienoDiSogni, worked out the cursive script on the back of the card for us as follows:
"Gentile signore, sono sensibile ai suoi complimenti ma non posso né voglio fissarle alcun appuntamento. Non ne vedo lo scopo. La ringrazio dei suoi complimenti e la saluto cordialmente. Nella Regini"
Which generally translates as:
"Gentle Sir, I am sensible to your compliments, but I can not, nor will I, set an appointment. I do not see the purpose. Thank you for your compliments, and cordial greetings, Nella Regini"
Perhaps a particularly enthusiastic fan wanted to arrange a dinner date? Well, it was certainly a no nonsense, but very polite, refusal.
Please DO visit the Etsy shop UnBaulePienoDiSogni, where the proprietress creates wonderfully authentic period clothing. If you love our cards, you will love her work!
Slight thumb crease in upper left quadrant just to the left of Nella's head, and 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.
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!