Maria Gunning's Beautiful Vanity Mirror

Idly searching though google I stumbled upon this fascinating bit of news; a mirror, once belonging to the legendary beauty Maria Gunning who (along with her two sisters) was a major celebrity during the middle part of the 18th century was sold at a fabulous price of £300,000. Her story captivating and tragic; as a lover of face paints, she became one of the most famous victims of lead paints dying at just twenty-seven. Poor Maria, began loosing her looks and beauty due to this compulsive use of poisonous makeup, which she first used to enhance her looks but soon after to cover  her spoilt beauty; it must have been painful for her to look into this gorgeous mirror, bought for by her husband in 1759 and see her abruptly decaying looks.

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Maria Gunning by Allan Ramsey

Pompadour and the Lure of Sevres

Amongst the many beautiful and exquisitely singular things that Madame de Pompadour liked to acquire and collect wore finely crafted porcelains, she adored them and took a profound interest in them which lead to her lifelong connection with the legendary Sevres porcelain manufacture which she helped establish and perfect; by having the talented but struggling 'then called'  Vinvennes factory moved to Sevres, closer to Versailles and even closer to her Bellevue country house estate recently bought for her by the king. This way she would keep a closer watch over her  new favoured porcelain factory.                                                                                  In its early days Vincennes factory gained popularity by making perfumed porcelain flowers, painted to look as close to the real thing as possible, they were relatively easy to make and became an instant best seller, the newly made Madame de Pompadour, with her deep love for flowers adored these and as the legend goes filled her gardens with them, intermixing with real blossoms, and inviting the King to view her beautiful gardens fooling and impressing him with its artistic realism.    

During the first half of the eighteenth century Meissen porcelains in Dresden were unrivalled it was one of wonders of Saxony, very profitable it was refereed to as the 'white gold' of Meissen, it certainly was beyond compare and none of the French porcelain manufactures  could even hope to rival with anything Meissen had to offer. This proclaimed 'white gold' of Meissen was even used in skill-full diplomacy, buttering up diplomatic relationships, links, conducting discreet and eloquent maneuverings with presents of porcelain of unquestionable grandeur and ostentatious elegance designed to seduce the hearts of kings and rulers into signing treaties or keeping good relations for the future.

A Sevres Clock for Pompadour's Chateau
de Menars, 1762.

With Sevres, Madame de Pompadour sought create a potential rival and succeeded. Once she got the King interested in the factory he not only had it moved to Sevres but in 1756 bestowed upon it the title of  'Royal' manufacture.  During this period Madame de Pompadour greatly influenced the style and taste of Sevres, after all, she did make sure that the best artists and sculptors like Boucher, Etienne-Maurice Falconet, Jean-Claude Duplessis would contribute with their talents to this unswervingly growing in fame manufacture.

Famously Sevres/Vinvennes invented some stunningly, vibrant, ground colours; there was a pink called Rose Pompadour, a deep Royal blue called Bleu Lapis, Bleu Celeste now known as turquoise and a green colour.

Madame de Pompadour, was of course one of its leading customers, she gave them important commissions which she know would attract more attention and customers, no matter how stiffly high the prices were. Good quality requires grand prices and at Vincennes and later Sevres they certainly were grand. Pot pourri vases which were immensely successful from the 1750s onwards were regarded was being thoroughly expensive, the famous 'Pot Pourri Pompadour'  could cost as much as 216 livres and frequently it reached well over 300 livres. In 1761, Madame de Pompadour bill for Sevres porcelains amounted too 26,172 livres, the king came close behind with 23,034 livres spent on his pick of king-worthy porcelains. Madame de Pompadour regarded purchases at Sevres as patriotic acts, she was supporting French manufacture making it grow financially and adding to its worldly prestige, in short, making it into a national treasure and wanted others to do the same. At Christmas in 1754 showy new creations of Sevres were displayed at Versailles, in the Kings private apartments, with enthusiasm the King participated in the sales, sometimes taking the role of a salesman himself, courtiers who wanted to show there support had to buy, buy buy as the King and Madame de Pompadour liked to see them do so; show how patriotic they are.

Pot-Pourri, belonged to Madame de Pompadour,
1760.

In 1753, Madame de Pompadour in tune with the growing successes of Vincennes, sent ...To Dresden, most likely to the French ambassador there to advertise what the famed French porcelain manufacture was capable off creating. Much like before when everyone sought to copy of Meissen design, now Sevres was being copied all over Europe as well. Louis XV got into habit of sending fashionable and magnificently decorated Sevres dinnerware as tempting and tantalising gifts for his own diplomatic maneuverings, some were presented to Maria Theresa in 1758, this of course greatly uplifted Sevres already impeccable standing, and the factories recognition spread throughout Europe.
During the Seven Years War, Sevres also produced some superb Toilette Sets delicately decorated with rococo motifs and patterns of flowers. Many beautiful silver Toilette Sets were melted, including one belonging to Madame de Pompadour, to help out the war efforts.



 

The Fabulous and Brilliant Salon Hostess Marquise du Deffand

In 18th century France, fashionable and exclusive Salons flourished with wit and learning, enlightened ideas, engrossing debates which put to question everything in their society, and interestingly many of the most celebrated salons were lead by witty, fashionable and cultured grand dames, some of very notable social standings others more modest. So long you had the money, the wits and the talent for entertaining, salons allowed its hostesses to shine and sparkle in the fashionable delightfully opulent Parisian society, and one of its brightest stars was Marquise du Deffand.

Marquise du Deffand

"What would I give to be able to make my appearance for one quarter of an hour, at those suppers, which I so greatly enjoyed!" - Montesquieu, June, 1741

"It would be needles to tell you, that when you either speak to, or of others, no one can equal you, either in point or intelligence or of sagacity' - Mr. Saladin, July, 1750

"You can never be forgotten, Madam, by those who have ever had the honour of ranking among your acquaintance: this i must entreat you would consider as matter of fact; since, for my own part, i shall ever reckon the hours I spent in your company, among the happiest of my life" - Count de Bernstoff, May, 1751  

A true original of her period the marquise was said to have shocked the nuns at her convent school who simply did not know what to do with a girl so sceptical,  so indifferent to their religious teaching and who so enjoyed voicing her shocking beliefs and opinions. Out of the convent she was never to show much if any interest in religion but her lavish education made her a brilliant conversationalist and she read with relish all the new novels and intellectual works. She was reputed to have been beautiful she loved being in the limelight and was always seen in the company of the most fascinating people. It rather was natural that she should become hostess to one of the most exclusive and sought-after salons of her day. She usually organised evening parties or sometimes very select suppers where the art of conversation blossomed in its full glory. People visiting Paris sought to be acquainted to her in the hopes that they would be amongst those lucky enough to be invited.

Amongst her many admirers was Voltaire, President Hanault Monsieur de Formont, and the great English collector Horace Walpole who was her frequent corespondent. Unfortunately her her due to financial troubles she was forced to recide at a convent  of St Joseph, where she rented out some comfortable rooms and lived for the rest of her life. She did not become pious or god-fearing, that was simply not in her nature, she did not let her new circumstances let her down in fact she lived as she did always, going out and conducted her salon except now it was in her rooms at St Joseph's. Some of her contemporaries or former friends noted that she was quite big-headed, vein, and jealous, incapable of loving anything more then she loved herself, but somehow that just makes her so much more interesting to me. She was tragic too, she never had a very good vision and it worsened rapidly in her later years leading her to become close to the lovely but poor  Julie de Laspinasse who being ever so charming and so very agreeable helped Deffand to entertained her guests, a task she now found difficult because of her eyesight. The young girl in turn gained many admirers from the circle of her new benefactress friends, and in order to spend more time with de Laspinasse, the  guests began the habit of coming an hour early without Mme du Deffand knowing just so they could spend some time with their charming new friend. A jealous range erupted when du Deffand discovered this she denounced her poor helper friend as 'serpant in her busam' and considered herself wronged by her friends. This lead to a serious rift between her and some of her friends most notably D'Alembert, who refused to abandon Julie de Laspinasse with whom he was seriously infatuated. She was settled in, comfortably in a new apartment furnished and decorated by her generous friends where she began her own salon. Madame de Deffand lived until the age of eighty-four dying in 1780.  

Triumph at Theatre des Petits Cabinets

It was sometime in 1747, that Mme de Pompadour decided on the idea of opening a small private theatre at Versailles. The restless and easily bored Louis XV was always in need of something new to divert his mind, and a theatre with Madame de Pompadour as its leading lady was really a spontaneous creative idea to delight the king, and he was full of approvals about the whole project. The result was the the very tiny but elegant 'Theatre des Petits Cabinets', all dressed up in Boucher and Perot's art it could only hold an audience of fourteen. The theatre was situated in the gallery close to the Cabinet des Medailles in the King's own private apartments.

A scene from Tartuffe

The first play was planed for the 17th January it was Molaire's 'Tartuffe' a comedy, originally written in the early reign of Louis XIV, the play poked fun at some aspects of the so called mysteries of religion (when it was first staged in 1664, it was a huge hit but the scandalised, pious Queen mother, Anne of Austria backed-up with a few other officials insisted that the play should not be preformed in public). Now it was to mark the beginning of a very successful five years in which Madame de Pompadour participated in 61 different and a total of and 122 performances including ballet and operas.

The 'Tartuffe' the  Marquise was to play the part of Dorine an outspoken,  servant girl, which itself must have produced a host of delicious laughter, since it was Madame de Pompadour, who behind the drama of the theatre, stood, supervising it all,  ordering everything and everyone into place.  Those invited to this very first production consisted of the King, Mesdames d'Estrades (at the time Mme de Pompadour's closest friend), her brother Abel,  her uncle or possible father M. de Tournehem and a few friends of the kings including his trusted valet Champcenetz and Marechal de Saxe. The actors were handpicked Mme de Pompadour herself; she looked specifically for those who possessed some measurable talent in acting, singing, dancing or those who could play some instrument beautifully.
A list of rules and regulations was was drawn out by Mme de Pompadour, and just a glance at its contents shows visibly that the power behind the production was firmly in the hands of Mme de Pompadour and the other female actresses; here are some the outlined rules:

'Actresses with benefit of the right to choose the play and the company'

'They will have the right to decide the plays the number of rehearsals as well as the day and time of the performance.'

'Any actor who will not be on time for the rehearsal will pay a fine, but only the actresses will have the right to decide its amount.'

A depiction Madame de Pompadour in another of her plays Acis et Galatée; preformed on the Stairs of Ambassadors 25th January

She was of course, already talented as an actress, and this was not the first time she found herself on stage (she had a theatre built to entertain her guests when she was just humble Mme d'Etioles). She could act better then many of the professionals and was reputed to have had a wonderful singing voice, even her enemies sang praises when it came to her theatrical talents, after all theatrical acting had taken a large part of her early education; she was taught to sing by Pierre Jeliotte and speak alexandrines by the famous poet and dramatist   Prosper Jolyot de Crebillon as part of the positively glittering education she attained.

Because of its profound success there had to be a bigger theatre built for a larger audience so the theatre was moved to the more spacious Ambassadors Staircase, there she preformed outstandingly in many comedic roles; in Le Prince de Noisy she played Prince Charming and was most tastefully dressed in men's clothing, after the show the king charmed exclaimed 'you are the most delicious woman in France'. The many plays preformed in these theatricals gave loads of opportunity to dress up in the most amazing costumes, records of some of the costume items used in these productions list assortments of fanciful hats, fake beards for priests, black moustaches to imitate Turks, a scythe symbolising father time, fairy wands, wheel of fortune, countless wigs, gowns, petticoats and bodices for the ladies and breeches for the gents were just some of the items used.

Rouge: Placing roses upon your Cheeks

Madame de Pompadour applying Rouge

Rouge was in huge demand during this colourful, fun-loving period, a fashionable lady could not go without it, she would have rouge amongst her many other cosmetic pots, with a variety of shades to chose from; perhaps, if she was wealthy enough she could keep all her paints and lotions in dainty little coffers and immensely pretty porcelain boxes created by the fashionable Sevres company (patronised by Madame de Pompadour).

Pommade Pot

Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, before and after she became worldly famous Madame de Pompadour was also a slave to rouge, when on her deathbed in 1764 her last request, after receiving the last rights was to powder her face with rouge, clearly she wanted to depart as stylishly as she had lived. The whole Paris seemed to love a rosy, crimson or scarlet complexion to the approval and disapproval of many; the womanising charmer Casanova thought much of it, and said it gave a sort of 'amorous fury' to the complexion. Many magazines wrote in praise and mockery of rouge and face painting in general, one wrote mockingly that all woman insisted on wearing masks of white and red, noting that the white was Spanish and the red was Italian (reference to where most popular face paints came from; Spanish White contained bismuth with combination of chalk or starch and was very widely used). There was of course loads to chose from when buying rouge, Mlle Martin from Paris was known to have sold the most exclusive rouge and reputably the best, and indeed all the female royalty of Europe placed orders for it (she distributed hers readily packed in irresistibly pretty Sevres porcelain containers), Baronne de d'Oberkirch who visited her famous rouge store laughingly noted 'rarely does a duchess get a hold of one by mistake', clever Mlle Martin sold her product only to costumers of the the highest rank.
Pompadour's weakness for rouge was also used as juicy little sniped to be taken advantage off and included in all those horrible caricatures that continued to grow in numbers, as she continued to grow in power; one even depicted her as a all-rouged up monkey in gorgeous rococo surroundings which only highlights the grotesques of the monkey.

Two lovers both dolled up in rouge and of the same shade, on the
 cheeks and lips.

Many wrote of the dangers of face paint; rouge was part of the dangerous lead-based cosmetics which with frequent use could lead to loosing both your hair and teeth, begetting a rotten complexion, and in some very sad cases leading to death (Maria Gunning and the courtesan Kitty Fisher both died because they were just too fond of painting themselves).
What is particularly interesting is that during this century, people began to be really become aware of the dangers that of lead-based products posed to the skin, yet throughout the century rouge as immensely important and continued to be so until the French revolution discarded it for being to ancient regime. Yet before this men and woman alike indulged themselves in lead-based paints and powders always led of course by the refined taste set in Versailles where all sorts of rouged complexions could be viewed like Boucher's palette with all its wide ranging pastel pinks. Apparently by 1781 it was noted that two million pots of rouge were sold in France each year, everyone seemed to have adopted a nonchalant attitude towards it and clearly they were willing to risk the all to common and dreadful results in order to achieve or come as close as possible to the rococo ideal beauty and in terms of skin tone this meant a complexion where lilies and roses merge together, and since such a skin was hard to come by naturally rouge became a constant companion for woman and many men, despite its frequent, disastrous drawbacks.