Julie Maupin dancing at the Paris Opera. Engraving late 17th - early 18th century

In a classically inspired interior with arches, columns and statues, stands a female figure in 18th century stage costume, her body slightly turned to her right, with the head turned to her left. Her right arm is flexed and held across the body, her left is outstretched; in her hands she holds castanets. Her wig is decorated with 'jewels' and finished with an ostrich plume and an aigrette. Around her neck is a fitted necklace. The square-neck has a modesty frill and bodice finishes centre front in a point; the short sleeves hang long at the back over the fitted sleeves, which finish at the wrist with a cuff and a frill. The full-length underskirt is edged with a fringe and over it is a hem-length scalloped skirt, pleated into the bodice. The bodice, skirt and sleeves are covered with braid to form graduated 'scales' set with 'jewels'.

Given by Dame Marie Rambert

Julie Maupin's career as a singer at the Paris Opera between 1690 and 1705, was the least exciting period of her life. The daughter of a professional swordsman, she was expert with sword and foil; she fought many duels and even gave public exhibitions when money ran short. She often dressed in men's clothes, although never attempting to conceal her sex. Her highly coloured love life embraced both men and women. Her lovers included Emperors, aristocrats and scoundrels, culminating in her attempted suicide when the soprano Fanchon Moreau rejected her advances.
She had no musical training, but her naturally beautiful contralto voice gained her a place at the Paris Opera. She was popular in comic roles and, abandoning the elaborate type of costume seen in this print, as Amazonian heroines or warlike deities.
Like many a cheerful sinner before her, she abandoned her eventful life and entered a convent in 1705.
The print is part of the collection of dance prints amassed by Marie Rambert and her husband, Ashley Dukes in the first half of the 20th century. Eventually numbering 145 items, some of which had belonged to the ballerina Anna Pavlova, it was one of the first and most important specialist collections in private hands.
Rambert bought the first print as a wedding present but could not bear to give it away. As the collection grew, it was displayed in the bar of the Mercury Theatre, the headquarters of Ballet Rambert, but in 1968, Rambert gave the collection to the Victoria and Albert Museum; seven duplicates were returned to Rambert, but these are catalogued in Ivor Guest's A Gallery of Romantic Ballet, which was published before the collection came to the V&A. Although often referred to as a collection of Romantic Ballet prints, there are also important engravings of 17th and 18th century performers, as well as lithographs from the later 19th century, by which time the great days of the ballet in London and Paris were over.

Printed as: A Paris chez J Mariette rue St. Jacques aux Colonnes d'Hercule

Julie Maupin's career as a singer at the Paris Opera between 1690 and 1705, was the least exciting period of her life. The daughter of a professional swordsman, she was expert with sword and foil; she fought many duels and even gave public exhibitions when money ran short. She often dressed in men's clothes, although never attempting to conceal her sex. Her highly coloured love life embraced both men and women. Her lovers included Emperors, aristocrats and scoundrels, culminating in her attempted suicide when the soprano Fanchon Moreau rejected her advances.
She had no musical training, but her naturally beautiful contralto voice gained her a place at the Paris Opera. She was popular in comic roles and, abandoning the elaborate type of costume seen in this print, as Amazonian heroines or warlike deities.
Like many a cheerful sinner before her, she abandoned her eventful life and entered a convent in 1705.

E.4953-1968