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Galerie des Modes et Costumes Français: 1778-1787
First issued during the reign of Marie Antoinette, the fashion and costume plate series Galerie des Modes et Costumes Français has been called “the most beautiful collection in existence on the fashions of the eighteenth century.” Beginning around 1778, the Parisian print merchants Esnault & Rapilly began issuing this series of engravings at irregular…
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The Automaton of Marie Antoinette
Material Mode isn’t quite sure how we missed seeing this at The Metropolitan Museum of Art earlier this year, but we’re kicking ourselves. This 18th century automaton was presented to Marie Antoinette in 1784, created by master furniture maker David Roentgen. Roentgen enjoyed considerable favor with the Queen, not only did she patronize him to…
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Meetings, Meanings & Mainbocher
This invitation to a fashion show at the Mainbocher couture house in Paris measures a mere 5 1/2 x 7 inches, but the story this simple piece of paper tells is much grander than cursory inspection belies. Issued to Michel Weill of San Francisco, the carte d’invitation has been stamped GARANTIE D’ACHAT—’guaranteed to purchase’—a stipulation…