Fashion Doll: “Parisienne” with Micro-photographs
Artist
Rochard, Antoine Edmond (French, b. 1836)
(French, 1836-?)
Dateabout 1868
OriginFrance
MediumBisque porcelain, glass, human hair (head), kid leather (body), silk, cotton, paint, metal-mounted microphotographs
Dimensions30 in. (76.2 cm)
ClassificationsDoll
Credit LineGift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
Object number2018.1
Label TextAntoine Edmond Rochard, (French, 1836–?)
Fashion Doll: “Parisienne” with Micro-photographs
Bisque porcelain, glass, human hair (head), kid leather (body), silk, cotton, paint, metal-mounted microphotographs, about 1868–1871
Mark: signed in red ink on paper label inside the dolls head
Gift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
This famous doll was designed by the Parisian Antoine E. Rochard, who received a patent for his invention in 1868. Aside from the elegant silk costume in the style Anglais introduced by the British couturier Charles Frederick Worth (1825-1895), she is wearing a special necklace that retains 24 of the original 28 framed micro-photographs (so-called Stanhopes) of tourist sites in Paris and around France. The encapsulated photos are covered with small glass viewing lenses, which magnify the image about 160 times, making them visible when held closely to the eye. A very costly and time-laborious system, it was short-lived - less than a handful of these dolls exist today.
First patent filed by Antoine Edmond Rochard in 1867 for a doll head embedded with microphotographs and a kaleidoscope in the head.
Second patent filed by Antoine Edmond Rochard in 1868 for a system to embed mounted microphotographs into a porcelain doll head.
The necklace’s micro-photographs, which are tiny and difficult to reproduce, include views of the Pavilion d’Orléans at Fontainbleau, Ste. Chappelle, and other now historic landmarks around Paris and France. One of the images is an aerial view, which must have been taken with a balloon.
Micro-photographs played a significant role during the time of the Prussian siege, when
communication between Paris and other unoccupied parts of the country relied on pigeons carrying micro-photographic messages across enemy lines.
City Hall, Paris, about 1867. The building was gutted by fire set by insurgents during internal conflicts associated with the Franco-Prussian War of 1870.
The royal chapel St. Chapelle in Paris, built in the 14th century and restored by 1855 after severe destruction suffered during the French Revolution.
This staged group photo, titled “Le Vengeur” (The Avenger), refers to a briefly-published, left-leaning republican journal that was vehemently in favor of an all-out war against Prussia.
Status
On view
