A dragon in my cabinet

Merci pour tous vos sympatiques commentaires concernant la maison Art Nouveau, intérieur et extérieur.

Ces derniers temps, il n'y a pas eu de grand changement dans le Cabinet de Curiosités, mais j'ajoute régulièrement de nouveaux objets.

J'ai callé  ma momie royale égyptienne dans un coin, près d'une statue d'Anubis sortie tout droit de la tombe de Toutankhamon. Ma plus belle acquisition récente est un petit dragon chinois, d'une incroyable précision, fait en verre de Murano par Vitreus Ignis.

 

Thank you for all your kind comments about the living room and the outside of the Art Nouveau house. Recently, I didn't make big changes in the Cabinet of Curiosities. I'm always searching for outstanding antiques to add in  the setting.

That's the actual look of the Cabinet, with my Royal Egyptian Mummy standing in the corner, near a statue of Anubis just taken from the tomb of Tutankhamun.

I'm very happy with this little one : a perfect Chinese dragon. Believe it or not, it's made of Murano glass by Vitreus Ignis. It looks like ivory...and it's milky white glass.

 

I also added some precious stones and shells to the collection, of  which an ammonite fossil, gift from a nice French miniaturist.

 

J'ai aussi ajouté quelques pierres et coquillages précieux et un fossile d'ammonite qui m'a été offert par une sympathique miniaturiste française.

 

 

The shelves are now filled with bones and stones, books and glasses.

I still have place for new discoveries....

 

Entre les pierres, les coquillages, les livres et les verreries il reste encore de la place pour de nouvelles découvertes.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

The Stamps Collector Desk

I spent some time trying to put nice books together. I mean miniatures books ! I now have books of all kinds : some you can open and others you can't, some you can read and others you can't, some truly false and others not really false. And, at last, I came to miniaturize Pictures Albums and Stamps Albums.

Here are the results with the stamps. I used a kit from "House of Miniatures" ( It's an old one...I have a big stock of those ). I created the philatelist's desk with all the needed stuff including the magnifier. The stamps are sticks one by one and there is a leftover box for exchanges. Yes, Have a good look at it !

Wait, I forgot the regular books ! I love these ones

Incredible but true : they are made of paper, but also marbled paper, faux leather and - That's what I'm very proud of - the sheets are stitched like in the good real books...but, inside, there is nothing to read.