Eugène Lami and le Goût Rothschild - watercolors of interiors of the château de Ferrières

 La Salle à manger. Baron James is seated at left. 

Most of the other figures in these watercolors can be assumed to be family members, but are not so easily identified as the baron.

Le Hall.

Le Salon blanc. Also known as Le Salon de réception. Baron James is standing at left.

Le Vestibule and Escalier d'honneur. (I couldn't find larger color images for all of these - I really tried! - so very small images and photographs will have to suffice.)

L'Escalier.

Le Salon des tapisseries. Also known as Le Salon Régence.

Le Salon des cuirs. So named because the walls were originally covered in Cordoban leather. Also known as Le Salon d'hiver.

The bedroom of Leonora "Laure" de Rothschild, wife of baron Alphonse, daughter-in-law of baron James.

Baron Alphonse de Rothschild in his bedroom at Ferrières. Only a few years after this was painted, he would inherit the château. 

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The château de Ferrières, some twenty-six kilometers east of Paris, was built between 1855 and 1859 for baron James de Rothschild. The vast structure was designed by the English architect Joseph Paxton, while much of the interior was the work of the artist Eugène Lami. It was built in a Neo-Renaissance style, and its grand scale, historicist inspiration, and outrageously lavish appointments exemplified what came to be known as le Goût Rothschild, an aesthetic that was hugely influential with the ultra-rich of the period - especially the American "aristocrat" dynasties like the Vanderbilts and Asters - when it came time to build their own lavish homes. At baron James' death in 1868, Ferrières was inherited by his eldest son, Alphonse. The château remained in the hands of the family until 1975, when it was donated to the University of Paris.

An earlier design by Lami for the great hall.

Lami's design for the niche in the entrance hall.

As the design was completed. (Two images.)

Audrey Hepburn, London, 1955 - photographs by Cecil Beaton

The film of Ondine was never made. Only a few months later she began work on War and Peace, filmed in Italy with Ferrer and Henry Fonda as her co-stars.

Life, everywhere - a pair of paintings by Abraham Mignon, circa 1670

Flowers in a Metal Vase.

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Flowers in a Glass Vase.

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Abraham Mignon or (Minjon; 21 June 1640, Frankfurt - 27 March 1679, Utrecht), German-born Dutch still life painter. Born into a strict Calvinist family who had immigrated to Germany for religious reasons, at nine years old he was placed in the care of Jacob Marrel, a specialist flower painter and art dealer. Soon he was nearly a partner in Marrel's business and in 1659 the two relocated to Utrecht, where Mignon became an assistant in the workshop of Jan Davidszoon de Heem. His own work soon became very sought after and was acquired by collectors of the highest rank; both the Elector of Saxony and Louis XIV owned his paintings. Always holding closely to his religious beliefs, though, in 1672 he was elected to the position of deacon of the Waalse Kerk (Walloon Church) of Utrecht, a position he held for five years. In 1675 he married Maria Willaerts who came from a family of painters. The information available is unclear, but the couple may have had six children, though only two daughters are listed as being alive at the the time of his own early death, at the age of thirty-nine.