The older sister - Archduchess Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen

Marcello Bacciarelli, 1766.

Maria Christina, Duchess of Teschen (Maria Christina Johanna Josepha Antonia; 13 May 1742, Vienna - 24 June 1798, Vienna), the fifth child and fourth (but second surviving) daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor. Always called Marie or Mimi at the Viennese court and by her family, she was Maria Theresa's favorite child, and their mother's preference for her caused great resentment among her siblings, bad feelings that only increased with time. Highly intelligent and artistically gifted, she was given an excellent education - a fairly rare attention given to a royal princess at the time - and she was fluent in several languages. 

Johan Zoffany, 1776.

In 1760, at the age of eighteen, she developed an intense romantic attachment to her new sister-in-law, Princess Isabella of Parma. That same year, Prince Albert of Saxony had visited Vienna, becoming close friends with both Maria Christina and Isabella. When the latter died, three years later, she was heartbroken. But she and Albert soon fell in love. His relatively weak royal position made their marriage unlikely, but such was Maria Christina's influence over her mother, that they were allowed to marry in 1766. 

Martin van Meytens (copy?), circa 1765. 

The princess received a rich dowry: the Silesian Duchy of Teschen - in addition to being made Field Marshal and Statthalter of Hungary, Albert would now be titled Duke of Saxe-Teschen - the towns of Mannersdorf, Ungarisch Altenburg, and other properties, and the richly renovated castle in Pressburg, where the couple would live; their household included about one-hundred and twenty people. That she was allowed to make a love match and that the new couple was so lavishly provided for, further alienated her brothers and sisters. The following year she had a daughter who only lived one day, and she contracted puerperal fever and was left unable to have further children; the couple later adopted a nephew in order to have an heir. 

Unknown artist, after Roslin, circa 1778.

They established a luxurious court in Pressburg, hosting many festivities, with frequent visits home to Vienna. And they made themselves popular with the Hungarian nobility and citizens, and devoted themselves to their common interest in art, making Pressburg a cultural center during their time there; it was here that they began their acquisition of drawings and engravings, a passion which eventually led to the formation of the famous Albertina Art Collection. 

Austrian School, circa 1766.

In 1780, it had been decided by Maria Theresa that the couple be appointed joint governors of the Austrian Netherlands, but the Empress died in November, during their preparations of the couple's journey. Her successor, Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, had a very poor relationship with his sister, jealous like all their siblings had been of her privileged position and intimate relationship with their mother. He confirmed the appointment but refused his sister the financial resources corresponding to the couple's position. They were also unable to play an independent political role, and were therefore reduced to being little more than a symbolic presence. 

Johann Georg Weikert, 1778.

The Austrian Netherlands, however, was a hotbed of social tensions and the Emperor, who lacked a clear understanding of the situation there, imposed drastic reforms, ignoring any calls for caution from the Duke and Duchess of Teschen. Further radical reforms led to violent riots. The couple tried to resist the Emperor's reckless and inflammatory decrees, but were constantly overruled. Then during the summer of 1789, inspired by the beginning of the French Revolution, outright rebellion arose in the Austrian Netherlands, and in November the couple was forced to flee Brussels. 

Daniel Schmiddely (?), circa 1766.

Two months later the Austrian Netherlands declared itself independent as the United Belgian States, and a month after that, Emperor Joseph II died and was succeeded by his younger brother Leopold II, with whom Maria Christina had a better relationship. In the meantime, continuing political conflict put the new Belgian republic on the edge of civil war. And in December 1790, the Austrians reconquered Brussels without a fight, and six months later the Duke and Duchess of Teschen returned to Brussels, reassuming their roles as joint governors. 

Alexandre Roslin, 1778.

However, in October 1792, the Austrian Netherlands was invaded by Revolutionary France, the French decisively defeating the Austrian troops. As a result, the couple was once again forced to flee. They eventually settled in Vienna, where the Duke lavished much attention on their art collection; they had been able to evacuate the collection from Brussles by sea, though one of the three ships on which the works were transported was destroyed in a storm. 

Maria Christina, who appears to have been struggling with depression at this point, began to suffer from a stomach disease in 1797, and she died the following year at the age of fifty-six. After her death of his wife, the Duke commissioned an impressive white marble cenotaph in the Augustinian Church, the work of the famous neoclassical sculptor Antonio Canova. At his own death in 1822, he was also buried beside her, together with their daughter. 

*

Canova's cenotaph for Maria Christina in the Augustinian Church - part of the Hofburg Palace complex in Vienna - completed in 1805.

Des toges sur la pelouse - Olympian and French national hero, Jean Bouin

Alexandre François Étienne Jean Bouin (21 December 1888, Marseille – 29 September 1914, Xivray-et-Marvoisin), French middle-distance runner. He competed in the 1500m at the 1908 London Olympics and the 5000m at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics. 

With George Hébert at left.

With Melchior, marquis de Polignac, member of the International Olympic Committee and the financial backer of the Collège d’athlètes.  

With George Hébert. (Two images.)

These first images were taken in October 1913 when George Hébert's Collège d’athlètes in Reims, France, was inaugurated by the French president, Raymond Poincaré. Its director Hébert was a pioneer and innovator in the field of physical education, and the Collège was a facility which focused on his new form of training, called la méthode naturelle. Olympian Jean Bouin was the celebrity guest and demonstrator.

Bouin won a silver medal in the 5000m in 1912, behind Finnish runner Hannes Kolehmainen; his race against Kolehmainen has long been regarded as one of the most memorable moments in running. Kolehmainen and Bouin quickly pulled away from the others, with Bouin leading and Kolehmainen repeatedly trying to pass him. Kolehmainen succeeded only 20 meters from the finish, winning by 0.1 seconds. Both contenders broke the previous world record. Bouin set three more world records: two in 1911, in the 3,000m and 10,000m, and one in 1913, in the one-hour run (19,021m).

With Hannes Kolehmainen. (Three images.)

At the beginning of WWI, he enlisted, and only two months into the war, serving as a corporal in the 163rd Infantry Regiment, he was killed in action - struck in the chest by a grenade splinter - during the First Battle of the Marne. According to the French authorities, his last words were, “Vive la France," and his death was used as propaganda to bolster morale. But it's actually unknown whether he was killed by the enemy or by friendly fire. He was only twenty-five.

Since his death, many games have been held in his honor, as well as having sports stadiums named after him, including the the Stade Jean-Bouin in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, home of the Stade Français rugby union club. And a French commemorative stamp honoring him was issued in 1960 in conjunction with the Rome Summer Olympic Games.

The most elegant twist - velvet evening gown, Jeanne Paquin, Winter 1911

 

Changeable coral and gold silk velvet; silk chiffon; metallic gold lace; green silk thread; assorted glass and metal beads.

Certain of a face, searching for a life - Charles Obzée Duchemin, photograph by Jacques-Philippe Potteau,1862

 

Charles Obzée (actually Elizée?) Duchemin, Tambour-major des Zouaves de la Garde Impériale (Tambour Major of the Imperial Guard Zouaves.) Said to have been born in Sainte-Rose, Guadeloupe - a different record states Saint-Domingue, present-day Haiti - there is extremely little information available about his life online, and almost all of it wrong. He has been identified as of paternal French (Burgundian) and maternal Kalinago/Carib heritage. A frequently shared online source states that he was born in 1817, but that he was twenty-seven when the portraits were taken in 1862. So he would either be forty-five in that year, or would have to have been born in 1835 to have been that age. In the same year he sat for the photographer, he was said to have been "promoted to brigadier general, formally becoming the first Black general in the French Army." This last is a complete fabrication, seemingly an attempt to make him more "interesting," his life more dramatic. But then it appears that the internet has even gotten his name wrong.

He was indeed born in Sainte-Rose, Guadeloupe, on 25 May 1833. (Which would have made him twenty-nine in 1862, rather than twenty-seven.) His father is believed to have been Norman rather than Burgundian, and the Caribbean origins of his mother are in question. While it is unknown why and when he left Guadeloupe for France, he enlisted in the 7th Artillery Regiment in 1853 at the age of twenty. After several promotions and transfers to other regiments, he joined the Zouaves of the Garde Impériale on 1 January 1862 - the year of these portraits - where he remained for only five years, before being discharged in April 1867. But only three months later, he re-enlisted and rose rapidly in the ranks, eventually reaching the rank of captain, before his retirement in 1885; among other awards, he had been made a chevalier of the Légion d’honneur in 1881. He died on 11 July 1908 in Angers.

For more detailed information on his life and career, as well as a genealogy, please read this PDF (in French).

Wedgwood on a French mantlepiece? - Madame Danloux, by her husband, Henri-Pierre Danloux, circa 1790

 

The portrait of madame Danloux, née Marie-Pierrette-Antoinette de Saint-Rédan, was painted by her husband, Henri-Pierre Danloux, around 1790 at the Château de Passy, ​​near Villeneuve-le-Bois in the Yonne department, the property of the painter's sister-in-law, Anne-Marie-Louise comtesse de Sérilly. According to the son of the artist and madame Danloux, Guillaume-Simon-Pierre Jules Danloux, the painting was created in the room where he was born.

*

On the chimneypiece is prominently displayed a jasperware sucrier by Wedgwood ornamented with a relief which appears to be a part of the "Domestic Employments" series of child groups designed by Emma Crewe. Between 1787 and 1818 she is thought to have produced various designs  - including the "Domestic Employments" series; usually featuring a small girl sewing or spinning - that were used on medallions, notably for jewelry, and often found on jasperware tea services. The matching teapot and cover displays a variant of a design from Lady Templetown's "Maternity" series. These designs by "lady artists" are all in much the same spirit, which has led to difficulties of attribution.

Dominique Daguerre, the famous marchand-mercier, had concluded an exclusive agreement with Wedgwood as early as 1787 for the marketing of the factory’s products in France. But he was also the exclusive agent for the Sèvres factory in London. He therefore worked in close collaboration with both factories, and with the jasperware technique being widely copied by the Sèvres manufacture, it is often difficult to determine the exact provenance of these various pieces. With the Revolution and the Empire, collaboration with the English manufacturer was suspended, and the Sèvres' production featuring "Wedgwood-style" decoration took over.

Lidded bowl (sucrier) and tea service, Wedgwood jasperware, 1787-90.