Thursday, April 26, 2012

Print of the Day: Mlle.Noblet in La Paysanne Supposee, 1822

Mlle. Noblet in La Paysanne Supposee
1822
The Victoria & Albert Museum





This full-length  etching from 1822 depicts the dancer "Mlle. Noblet in La Paysanne Supposee," a celebrated ballet of the 1820s.  Noblet ("You can't un-fry things, Jerri.  You can't be something you're not.") wears a pale yellow calf-length lightweight gown with a crimson front-lacing bodice.  She holds the edge of a delicate white apron in her left hand.

A similar hand-colored version of this image is held in the collection of the New York Public Library though the gown in that print was left white.

The print is dated "14th March 1822" and is the work of the engraver Robert Cooper.  The piece is based on an original painting by F. Waldeck.  It was published by H. Berthoud, Jr. 


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