February 6th, 1787

 

It is a new year, but Spring still seems very far, however much we may long for its arrival. This past week was almost unbearably cold and there is no sign that this next one will be any better, with snow lingering in every shadowed corner and making it too slippery for the horses, which has halted many of the plans myself and my guests have had for the past few weeks.

Try as we might, Marianne and I were unable to locate any definite proof of the Chevalier's disloyalty, though I still feel a constant sense of unease about his affections. He is now returned to Paris, but did marvelously charm Maman during his stay in Riom. Charming though he might be, he was unable to hide his dislike of the town declaring it "provincial" in a manner which was unmistakably denigrating. He swears he meant it only in the strictest sense of the word, as it is a country province, but I know better. He insults the place I love, vastly preferring the city in every regard. Though it is allowable for two people to hold different views, it is hardly helpful for one's paramour to sneer at the things and places that one loves. I have not always preferred the country to the town myself, but increasingly I find it holds the peace I need. The city is too full of intrigue in large part because it is too full of people. Versailles is even more so.

The Comte de Vergennes is very poorly, and as such the Council of Notables has yet to convene. It is said that he has worked himself into exhaustion, but for well or ill the Council cannot long delay their work. The King, being very fond of Vergennes, is loathe to continue without him despite urgings from his other ministers. Vergennes enjoys support from Lafayette as well for his pursuit of French involvement in the American war in the colonies, which resulted in no end of favor for the Marquis (despite his disobedience to the King, which I shall never understand). This I mostly have from Elizabeth, Comtesse de R-, for it has been over a month since my last letter from Princess Elisabeth. Evidently my god-daughter continues well, though the Comtesse is much exasperated, declaring that the child has such lungs that she hopes we may expect a fine voice when she is old enough to begin music lessons. 

Andre and his wife have departed for their home recently, though it took them an extra day's travel to arrive as the roads were so bad. Mattieu has remained some days longer, but is eager to be on his way as well. Maman and I paint, but grow tired of the same daily activities and Riom has very little at present to relieve the tedium. If my latest letter from Menars is to be credited then my enemies at court continue their slanders, but I have little ability to counter this and less and less energy to even attempt it. Perhaps when the weather warms my energy will return.

-Olympe

Historical Humor

 

You know, I'm not much of one for these sorts of memes, but this one struck me as funny; and in light of all that is stressful in the world at the moment, couldn't we all use a bit of laugh? 

As an American who used to live in Britain as a child, I can kind of see the road to the revolution both ways. Of course, the British were only too happy to fight to protect their economic interests in the colonies, as the colonists were happy to have the help. C'est l'histoire. 

Burgundy Riding Costume In Progress

 

As with many places and programs, we had to cancel two of our shows this year and find digital alternatives for the others. Sadly, one of the shows that had to be canceled was the production of Amadeus which has been an absolute wishlist show for me for years. Worse still, since the students who were most going to benefit from the opportunity to work on that show are graduating this year, we won't simply be able to reschedule it for next year, and because of leadership changes in the program we aren't likely to be able to do it for the foreseeable future. Join me in mourning.

There's always a silver lining though, and I picked one costume from the designs to have some of my more advanced students work on. It's a burgundy velvet riding jacket and skirt for the character of courtier Strack, who is usually played by a male, but which in our production was intended to be female. Students worked on panniers as part of their exploration of structured garments, and we utilized the mock-up of the jacket bodice to discuss draping and fit techniques. The wine velveteen over one shoulder in the photo is the fabric that the jacket will be made out of. 

One precocious student cut and put together the quilted velvet skirt using accurate 18th-century methods which, once hemmed, will be more or less finished. There's still a lot of work to do to make the jacket, trim it all in silver and purple passementerie, and create a little tricorn with plum silk veil, but I think they'll enjoy the process. Updates to come. This will likely take the better part of the semester to do as the students involved and I are only in the Costume Shop one day per week owing to Covid restrictions. It'll be like a slowly-unfurling flower. 

For Your Chateau

 

If you're in possession of some holiday funds you're itching to spend, here are a few 18th century themed ideas for your home and personal enjoyment!

Starting the Year With A Laugh

 

December 8th, 1786

Received a considerable shock this Thursday last when, who should show up on my doorstep, but the Chevalier. Evidently he did not take my lack of communication as intended to indicate that his presence was no longer wanted at Portaberaud, and came to visit, as was his original plan. Being that he was already there I could hardly turn him away into the cold night, so he was permitted to stay, which led to us engaging in a rather frank discussion. In truth it hearkened back to the kinds of talks we used to have when we first began this misadventurous romance. It meandered through topics, dear and distant; and we expressed the deepest fears of our hearts as well as our cherished dreams. He insists that his relationship with that actress is naught but a fond friendship and asked if I would wish him to abandon her as a friend; to which I responded that I should wish for him to abandon her as a potential lover. He said he already had, and swore again that nothing of that nature had passed between them. I for my part shall continue to monitor all correspondence I may find access to, and toward this end I have enlisted the aid of my maid, Marianne. 

The Chevalier is to remain on with us for some weeks, departing again for Paris and his father's house just before Christmas. During that time Marianne will assist me in locating any letters, diaries, or notes which are between he and the actress or any other woman who is not already known to me. Nor am I so foolish as to overlook anything which may be addressed to a false name, or a coded reference. I wish to trust, but I find it necessary that I should protect myself from future pain and embarrassment by taking the reigns now and ensuring that my trust is deserved. I will find ways and reasons of separating him from his room and belongings, and Marianne will, in the guise of her duties, search for anything which seems potentially suspicious. These she will bring to me, taking care to note their position so that they might be returned as if undisturbed, and I will explore their contents for signs that he is or has been false. 

Should no cause for concern be found, so much the better. If something of note is discovered, it will be all the proof needed to cast aside his hollow oaths and banish him from my company forthwith. I will then need never wonder if I have been hasty or unkind; and he will be unable to defend his actions as misunderstood rather than sordid as they will have been indeed. I do not like having to pursue this course of action, but I think it must be done. It is too easy for my gentle heart to be abused, I do owe it protection where I am able. 

-Olympe

Mantle Project Update 1

I've been promising to do this for a while, and we are so close to having this project done so it seems like the perfect time for an update. First of all, you may be wondering why it's taken this long to actually make significant progress on the mantle. The main reason is simply that the majority of the work is being done for me by my partner who does not live with me full time, so we can only really do most of the tasks when he's in town certain weekends. We also had to pause when it turned out that I didn't have as many tiles as I thought I did and had to order more and wait for them to come in. All that being said, we have made it to a great place now and the project is looking splendid!

It started with a plan for how the fireplace insert and mantle would need to be connected in order to create the right look while still allowing us to pull out the insert for maintenance or to unplug it if, for instance, it needed replaced. My idea, after watching some tutorials and checking out DIY blogs, was for a sort of U-shaped shell attached to the back of the mantle, with a platform for the insert to sit on, and a thin flat behind the mantle that the tiles would be attached to. My partner quickly chucked this idea (and my measurements) when he realized that there was all kinds of crazy woodwork shenanigans going on behind the 19th century mantle. The platform remained a good idea though, and once the tiles came in we were able to adhere them to the simple backing panel, though they are admittedly more uneven than desired. Perfection was never the goal, on the other hand. 

The insert came from Wayfair, and originally I picked up one that was too small. I was trying to keep things as economical as possible, but it showed up looking absolutely diminutive compared to the hulking mantle and had too much space on the sides, so in the end I went for the Gibbs Flat Electric Insert at 19.9" H x 28" W x 8.5" D, which I paid just under $300 for (it's now a bit higher so I'm glad I got it on sale when I did).

My main contribution to this project, other than the research and purchasing, has been the sanding, of which there has been a lot! As an antique this mantle was never going to be perfectly smooth and unscarred, which is perfectly okay because I love its history and character. That being said, I did want to repair some of the peeling areas of paint and get rid of residual plaster from old finishes. There were quite a few areas that needed work, as you can see from the photos. The duck egg blue is obviously not original, but it is one of the things I liked about the piece when I first saw it online, so that stays. I found an interior paint at a local retailer that was pretty close to the existing color, and bought my first electric sander just for this (again, I went for a cheap model because I wanted to make sure I wasn't overspending on something I might not use frequently). Of course some of the areas are flatter and more accessible than others so I also had to buy a small hand-sander for the tight places and after that it was just a lot of elbow grease, which I don't mind. The holes in the top of the mantle were where it was originally fixed to the wall, and will be re-used here before being puttied and painted (probably, we'll see how visible they end up being). In recent days the repainting has been my main task with this, as my partner has been back home for a few days.

No sooner had he put together the box and attached the tiled panel than I was dying to try it all out together just for a sense of the finished project, but he was still cursing the odd dimensions. Not only was there a lot of patching on the back of the mantle that supported weaker areas, but it was very uneven meaning that one side stood out further than the other although not visible from the front. There are also standard sizes for things today, like an average height for a fireplace mantle, and that wasn't really true 200 years ago, so standard cuts of woods weren't lining up easily. Bless his heart, he dealt with it, adding a lip to the edge that the mantle slots onto and carving off fractions of inches to ensure that it all lined up. I should take a moment to mention that in his daily work he is NOT a carpenter and that this is not a typical kind of project for him, so I am extremely grateful and I think he did admirably well. And that's where he left it as he headed home Monday morning...

Of course I couldn't resist dragging the parts together to see how it was all going to look, more or less. 

Stay tuned as we're planning to finish this project this coming weekend, just in time to hang some stockings!