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Les Folies-Bergère (La Folie)

Colour Lithograph
c.1910 (made)
Artist/Maker
Place of origin

This is one of a series of eighteen lithographs created in Paris in about 1910 by a French artist who signs himself "Laviny". Their subject matter is of beautiful women dressed in fantastical and extraordinary costumes which represent various aspects of Paris. Whilst the outfits are ultra-fashionable in silhouette, they are very exaggerated and were probably not intended to be made up in real-life, but were made to amuse and for decorative purposes. The lithographs were printed by Fattorini et Crespin of Paris.

This is an embodiment of the Folies Bergère of Paris, a cabaret founded in 1869 as the Folies Trévise before being renamed in 1872, and still open today. In the beginning, the Folies Bergère offered entertainments catering to the popular taste such as comic opera and operettas and popular songs, which is represented in this costume. The model is dressed as a female jester, with a pointed cap, purple and pink shoes and stockings worn with the colours alternating, and carrying a marotte (a miniature jester's head on a stick). The cap, shoes, and her white lace dress with pink lining are trimmed with jingling bells.

Object details

Categories
Object type
TitleLes Folies-Bergère (La Folie) (assigned by artist)
Materials and techniques
colour lithograph
Brief description
Laviny. "Les Folies-Bergère (La Folie)". Design for a fantasy costume representing an aspect of Paris. Published by Fattorini & Crespin, Paris. c. 1910
Physical description
Colour lithograph showing an attractive woman dressed in an elaborate, exaggerated fancy-dress or theatrical costume representing a neighbourhood or institution of Paris. One of a set of 18.
Credit line
Given by the House of Worth
Object history
This print is part of a very large collection of reference material including fashion plates, engravings, original drawings and illustrations that were collected by the fashion design house of Paquin at the turn of the 19th/20th centuries. Many bear the stamp of Paquin's archivist at the time. They were acquired by the V&A in 1957 when, following the closure of the combined houses of Paquin and Worth, the Worth/Paquin archives and design books were donated to the Museum.
Summary
This is one of a series of eighteen lithographs created in Paris in about 1910 by a French artist who signs himself "Laviny". Their subject matter is of beautiful women dressed in fantastical and extraordinary costumes which represent various aspects of Paris. Whilst the outfits are ultra-fashionable in silhouette, they are very exaggerated and were probably not intended to be made up in real-life, but were made to amuse and for decorative purposes. The lithographs were printed by Fattorini et Crespin of Paris.

This is an embodiment of the Folies Bergère of Paris, a cabaret founded in 1869 as the Folies Trévise before being renamed in 1872, and still open today. In the beginning, the Folies Bergère offered entertainments catering to the popular taste such as comic opera and operettas and popular songs, which is represented in this costume. The model is dressed as a female jester, with a pointed cap, purple and pink shoes and stockings worn with the colours alternating, and carrying a marotte (a miniature jester's head on a stick). The cap, shoes, and her white lace dress with pink lining are trimmed with jingling bells.
Bibliographic reference
Victoria and Albert Museum Department of Prints and Drawings and Department of Paintings Accessions 1957-1958 London: HMSO, 1964
Collection
Accession number
E.22267-1957

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
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