A Monumental 19th-century Achievement
Excerpt from the book 'Auguste Racinet's Le Costume historique'.
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For in the years 1840-1880, the taste for painting in the Dutch style, which sat so well with 16th-17th-century furniture, was diffused by the many "artisans of art" who had been inspired by Lacroix and Racinet's volumes, by Gérôme's drawing course published by Goupil, and by the documentation offered by the Union centrale. Their clients liked to research these periods; they collected original objects, bought "reconstitutions of ancient (porcelain) works" from the famous Parisian manufacturer Samson, or, like Fernand de Rothschild, commissioned imitations of objects and jewelry of the 16th century. This mixture of the authentic and the reconstituted, widely used in the repair or replacement of paneling in the great houses of Europe and the East Coast of the United States, was also practized in relation to textiles and costumes. Falling in love with the exotic, collectors sometimes ornamented their Turkish salons with oriental clothes; landowners invented a lineage for themselves that featured ancestors in armour or historical robes. Painters needing authentic items to copy possessed their own collections of objects and costumes, which they strongly preferred to the photos of costumed models sold by certain photographers. Many of these authentic pieces, not all of them unmodified, have since entered museums, of which they were often the original exhibits and point of departure. Examples include the painter Lucas's costumes at the London Museum, Stibbert's in Florence, Escosura's in Reggio di Emilia, and those of Flameng, Royebet and Leloir in Paris. Certain artists were rich enough to commission costumes from specialist tailors who researched them in scholarly works such as Racinet's. Thus Roybet, who painted scenes à la Frans Hals, had suitable costumes and shoes made for him by a Flemish craftsman named Henri Clootens. At this time, the streets around the École des Beaux-Arts contained shops specialising in the sale of costumes of greater or lesser antiquity to painters and theatre wardrobes. This clientele was, as it were, tailor-made for Racinet, and it was not the only one.
For couturiers, too, Racinet was a mine of information, at a time when costume balls were all the rage in high society. One of the most famous couturiers of the time, Jean Philippe Worth, himself a painter and collector of historical costumes, sought and perhaps found inspiration in Racinet's plates for the stylish and fantastical evening wear that he designed. Fashion journal editors seeking to provide their readership with engravings of fancydress for the carnival could also have recourse to his volumes. La Mode illustrée, which Firmin-Didot began publishing in 1862, had one of the highest subscriptions among such magazines. Ist patterns and engravings were sold on to other press groups, notably to Franz Lipperheide's Modenwelt in Berlin. Lipperheide was at the time in the process of creating (with this wife Frieda, herself a collector of textiles and embroidery), the first and one of the greatest specialist libraries of the literature of costume; it now forms part of the Berlin Kunstbibliothek.
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
Page [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]
For in the years 1840-1880, the taste for painting in the Dutch style, which sat so well with 16th-17th-century furniture, was diffused by the many "artisans of art" who had been inspired by Lacroix and Racinet's volumes, by Gérôme's drawing course published by Goupil, and by the documentation offered by the Union centrale. Their clients liked to research these periods; they collected original objects, bought "reconstitutions of ancient (porcelain) works" from the famous Parisian manufacturer Samson, or, like Fernand de Rothschild, commissioned imitations of objects and jewelry of the 16th century. This mixture of the authentic and the reconstituted, widely used in the repair or replacement of paneling in the great houses of Europe and the East Coast of the United States, was also practized in relation to textiles and costumes. Falling in love with the exotic, collectors sometimes ornamented their Turkish salons with oriental clothes; landowners invented a lineage for themselves that featured ancestors in armour or historical robes. Painters needing authentic items to copy possessed their own collections of objects and costumes, which they strongly preferred to the photos of costumed models sold by certain photographers. Many of these authentic pieces, not all of them unmodified, have since entered museums, of which they were often the original exhibits and point of departure. Examples include the painter Lucas's costumes at the London Museum, Stibbert's in Florence, Escosura's in Reggio di Emilia, and those of Flameng, Royebet and Leloir in Paris. Certain artists were rich enough to commission costumes from specialist tailors who researched them in scholarly works such as Racinet's. Thus Roybet, who painted scenes à la Frans Hals, had suitable costumes and shoes made for him by a Flemish craftsman named Henri Clootens. At this time, the streets around the École des Beaux-Arts contained shops specialising in the sale of costumes of greater or lesser antiquity to painters and theatre wardrobes. This clientele was, as it were, tailor-made for Racinet, and it was not the only one.
For couturiers, too, Racinet was a mine of information, at a time when costume balls were all the rage in high society. One of the most famous couturiers of the time, Jean Philippe Worth, himself a painter and collector of historical costumes, sought and perhaps found inspiration in Racinet's plates for the stylish and fantastical evening wear that he designed. Fashion journal editors seeking to provide their readership with engravings of fancydress for the carnival could also have recourse to his volumes. La Mode illustrée, which Firmin-Didot began publishing in 1862, had one of the highest subscriptions among such magazines. Ist patterns and engravings were sold on to other press groups, notably to Franz Lipperheide's Modenwelt in Berlin. Lipperheide was at the time in the process of creating (with this wife Frieda, herself a collector of textiles and embroidery), the first and one of the greatest specialist libraries of the literature of costume; it now forms part of the Berlin Kunstbibliothek.
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Auguste Racinet, The Complete Costume History
Hardcover, 29 x 44 cm (11.4 x 17.3 in.), 636 pages
$ 200.00
$ 200.00
"An indispensable work for all those who are interested in costumes." — The Sunday Times Culture, London
Russian Kalmucks, a people of horse-riders. Kalmuck tent, kibitka. Nomad customs