Saturday 7 December 2013

La Gazette des atours


A l’époque de Marie-Antoinette on utilisait pour la garde-robe  une “Gazette des atours”. On en a conservé quelques exemplaires, dont des cahiers destinés à Marie-Antoinette et à Madame Elisabeth, la soeur de Louis XVI.

Ces livres étaient  tenus par la dame d’atours et comportent des échantillons de tissu, de soieries, de dentelles qui composaient les robes que l’on portait à la cour. Il y avait aussi des annotations manuscrites  concernant les modèles de vêtements, les tissus et les fournisseurs, comme Melle Bertin. Il est probable que l’on choisissait dans ce cahier les différentes robes qui sont portées dans la journée, en placant des épingles sur les robes sélectionnées.

Cependant dans la Gazette des atours de Madame Elisabeth on a retrouvé aucune trace d’épingles. On penche maintenant pour un usage plus comptable du cahier.
 

 
Voici ma version de la Gazette, au douzième, et remontant probablement à 1785.
Deux doubles pages sont lisibles, la couverture est en brocard de soie.
 
 
At the time of Marie-Antoinette, people, at least at the royal Court, used a "Gazette des atours", a kind of wardrobe book. A few copies have been kept, notably registers made for Marie-Antoinette and Madame Elisabeth, sister of Louis XVI.
These books were kept by the lady of the bedchamber and included fabric, silk and laces swatches of which the dresses worn at Court were made. There were also handwritten annotations about designs, fabrics and suppliers, as Mademoiselle Bertin. It is likely that one used these books to choose the attires for the different times of the coming day, by placing pins on the dresses that had been selected.
However in the Gazette belonging to Madame Elisabeth, no trace of pinholes were found. Scholars now consider a more accountable use of the notebooks.
 

 
This is my own Gazette, miniature one inch scale, probably dating back to 1785.
Two double pages are readable, the cover is made of silk brocade.
 
Many thanks to Marie-Antoinette and Madame Elisabeth for their help.
 
 

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Some "nouveautés"

Saturday I was at KDF Xmas Festival. So many things to see and ...to buy!
Mostly, I came back with wood, fabrics, ribbons, glasses all the stuff to spend the winter in my miniature world.
I couldn't resist when I saw the shoes made by Patrizia Santi and the vanity case by Dominique Roche from Domino Miniatures. They have nothing to do with my Art Nouveau bedroom, but I don't care... it's so "chic" !


 
 
There is a new artefact in my Curiosity Room, a nice crocodile for the Egyptian display. This tiny bronze piece is by Simon Walker.