A royalty or a theatre queen

By Don Duco

On September 2 1829 the Odéon theatre in Paris was overcrowded. That night the performance of the drama by Lucien Arnault took place (note 1), titled "Cathérine de Médicis aux Etats de Blois” (note 2). Arnault edited the piece into a classical drama in five acts and in the principal part mademoiselle Georges posed (note 3). The first night became a booming success and the start of a long series of performances.

The role of the queen was given extra splendour by some historical alterations. The producer realised, when studying the portraits of Cathérine de Médicis (1519-1589), that this woman in stiff late medieval dress was not useful to become a mundane stage personality. Thus he changed the costume for that of the granddaughter Maria de Médicis (1573-1642). Maria was depicted by Rubens (1577-1640) in a series of paintings for the Palais du Luxembourg. Here the acts of heroism of Maria from landing in Marseilles till her death are shown (note 4). And she truly was a flamboyant queen dressed in garments that would have the right attraction on stage. Also it has to be admitted, fashion of the early seventeenth century is more luxury than that of the 1550’s.

The Paris population, to be precise the cultural part who could afford going to the theatre, became to learn the French queen Cathérine in the anachronism costume of her granddaughter, the dresses she could impossible have known. The Paris shops in the Rue de l'Odéon and surrounding streets sold souvenirs showing her portrait. A silk handkerchief, a lacquer box, a coloured print, curiosa underlining the importance of the queen and making mademoiselle Georges in her stage role world-famous.

For pipe manufacturers, who experienced about a generation in sculpting the pipe bowl, the success of Arnault's drama led to the making of a pipe. It was the important Gambier factory who was the first. The mould maker used as example a print or medal and modelled a bust of which a brass mould cast could be made later. There she stood, Cathérine or in fact Maria, candour like Rubens saw her, an upstanding lace collar fitting with the fashion of early 1600. On her head she wore the gigantic French crown (Ill. 1).

The mould maker will have been satisfied with his creation. The pipe was really a royal creation and not for the first time a remarkable resemblance was shown. The design was also the result of a new finding. The imposing bust of the queen dressed in court costume would have been too massive thus the pipe too heavy and loosing smoke comfort. Therefore the mould maker modelled skilfully a rather thin disk shaped bust part, decorated at the back with an attractive stylistic ornament (Ill. 2, 3). A refined pattern with a Bacchus head at the top and a ribbed shell at the base, wrought over by c-volutes and accanthleaves to break the dull flat part. The short stem was in fact a stub with plain band, in which a wooden stem with horn mouthpiece could be fitted.

The selling of this pipe started early 1830 and with success. The large size of the pipe and the relation with the actuality ensured the demand. An economic benefit that proved to be not a short running one. The sales catalogue of the trade office Saillard-Ainé still illustrates the pipe ten years later on an prominent place (note 5). The Gambier firm itself kept the pipe in production till the 1890's (Ill. 4), so over sixty years (note 6).

All the era the Gambier firm continued the wrong listing of the name. Cathérine was much more popular than Maria, especially when from 1880 the letters of Cathérine were published (note 7). Next to this the educated smoker new about her envoy Jean Nicot and that she was the queen behind the "Herbe de la Reine", the royal weed meant tobacco.

The French smoker was content about the pipe and whether he unmasked the depicted person as one or another queen, is still the question. Of course when the pipe was introduced, it referred to mademoiselle Georges in her glorious role, later the discussion perhaps was taken up.

In this century no smoker will have smoked the remarkable pipe and only when the interest for the French figural pipe was born, researchers discovered the difference in name and represented person. This honour is given to the pioneer on French pipes Jean-Léo (note 8). But what was not demasked is the background of this apparent mistake in the catalogues. With this article I do not primary want to give back the queen her official identity, but more like to show the reader that the tobacco pipe shows more the economic importance of the manufacturer, which prevailed above the historic correctness. The portrayed person is Maria de Médicis after Rubens, alias mademoiselle Georges in the role of Cathérine de Medicis. And which person had the closes resemblance is still the question, anyhow Cathérine is the first to fall off.

Published as: Three queens for a historic pipe in Le Livre de la Pipe 1995, Paris, 1994, p 99-101.
Trois reines pour une pipe historique in Le Livre de la Pipe 1995, Paris, 1994, p 102-104.

© Don Duco, Pijpenkabinet Foundation, Leiden, 1994.

Illustrations

1. The majestic portrait pipe named Cathérine de Médicis that in reality represents Maria de Médicis. Givet, firm J. Gambier, shape number 390, 1830-1855.
Leiden, Pijpenkabinet collections Pk 8.541

2. The illustration of Cathérine de Médicis in the catalogue of the firm J. Gambier, Givet, 1868.
Leiden, Pijpenkabinet collections Pk 10.077

Notes

1. Larousse Grand Dictionnaire Universelle du XIXe siècle. Emile Lucien Arnault, poète tragique et litteraire, 1787-1863.

2. Revue encyclopédique, 1829, p 780.

3. Larousse Grand Dictionnaire Universelle du XIXe siècle. Marguerite-Josephine Wemmer, dite Mlle. Georges, 1787-1867.

4. H.W. Janson, A History of Art, London, 1974, pp. 419-420.

5. Besançon, 1843, planche 22. Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale.

6. D.H. Duco, Vve. Hasslauer successeur de Gambier, Catalogue de 1868 précédé d'une introduction historique et d'une nomenclature, Leiden, 1988, p. 3.

7. La Ferrière et Baguenault de Puchesse, 1880-1909.

8. Jean-Léo, Les pipes en terre françaises, Bruxelles, 1971, p. 40.