Madame Augusta in the Cachucha. Lithograph coloured by hand, ca. 1840

Dancer in profile with foot pointed to front, holding castanets and wearing a red bodiced dress trimmed with black flounces. Coloured lithograph, ca. 1840
In a hilly landscape, with a town in left distance and a fence right foreground, stands a female figure. Her body faces the viewer, her head is turned in profile, her arms are outstretched at shoulder height and she holds castanets; she stands on her left foot with her right pointed to the front. Her hair is severely dressed, with a knot at the back with a lace frill and flowers and, to the side, a hanging black lace frill held by two roses. The red-washed fitted long-sleeved bodice has a wide, low, square neck, the wrists decorated with triangular yellow motifs, and the neck and bodice seams outlined in yellow 'ribbon'. The bodice is cut low below the waist into the bell-shaped, calf-length skirt. Around the bodice is a serrated frill of black lace. From mid-skirt are two deep flounces of black lace, the upper held with a red ribbon. The shoes are tinted red.

Bequeathed by Lady Mary Evans

The print shows the French dancer Caroline Augusta Josephine Thérèse Fuchs. Born in 1806, she became very popular in America under her stage name of Madame Augusta. She was the first dancer to perform Giselle in New York in 1846. On her marriage she became Comtesse de Saint-James and died in 1901.
The Cachucha is a stylized Spanish dance, originally from Cuba, but was popularised by Fanny Elssler in Jean Coralli's 1836 ballet Le Diable Boîteaux (The Lame Devil). In Spanish, Cachucha means 'small cap' but can be applied to anything that is graceful or pretty. Making great use of the castanets, the dance covers a range of movements, sometimes gracefully calm, sometimes sprightly and sometimes incorporating impassioned hip swinging, while making great use of the castanets.

Caroline Augusta Josephine Thérèse Fuchs was a French ballerina, born in 1806, who became very popular in America as Madame Augusta. She was the first dancer to perform Giselle in New York in 1846. At a time when life expectancy was much shorter than today, dancers often lived longer than average, and the Comtesse de Saint-James, as Mme Augusta became on her marriage, died in 1901 at the ripe old age of 95.
The Cachucha is a stylized Spanish dance, originally from Cuba, popularised by Fanny Elssler in Jean Coralli's 1836 ballet Le Diable Boîteaux (The Lame Devil). In Spanish, Cachucha means 'small cap' but can be applied to anything that is graceful or pretty. Making great use of the castanets, the dance covers a range of movements, sometimes gracefully calm, sometimes sprightly and sometimes incorporating impassioned hip swinging, while making great play with the castanets.

S.2600-1986