Ronsard's Rose

Pierre de Ronsard (1524-1585) was one of the stars of the Pléiade, French humanists who were inspired by classical culture. His poetry is wonderfully musical, sensuous, pagan and romantic. His most famous sonnet, "Mignonne, allons voir si la rose", set to music, sung and recited by generations of schoolchildren, is an ode to Cassandra, the daughter of a wealthy Italian merchant. The theme is basically to enjoy your youth, as your life and youth is as ephemeral as the rose. Hence, live life today - Carpe Diem.         

This most diverse, accomplished, and influential poet of Renaissance France is the inspiration for the Ronsard Limoges pattern painted on porcelain as well as the Eden Ronsard Rose, a climbing, large old fashioned  double rose in pastel pink, cream and yellow.                       

Sevres

Sevres porcelain is widely known to be both the French porcelain of royalty and the royal porcelain of France. King Louis XV, known as the most notable art patron in modern history, became the major customer and joined as a shareholder of the factory in 1745. The factory had a goal to deliver a superior product in order to compete with the early Meissen, Berlin, and other continental porcelains. By 1752, the king became the major shareholder. He deemed that this porcelain to be designated as royal, or Manufacturer Royale du Porcelaine. He conducted annual sales from his palace grounds at Versailles, encouraged his court and other royalty to buy his product, and even restricted other porcelain factories from using gilding or colored grounds on their porcelains.

When the operation ran into financial troubles in 1759, King Louis XV acquired the factory as royal property. The king took over the manufacturing operations, and considered himself the principal client and salesperson of these extraordinary porcelain creations. The factory was moved to the village of Sevres southwest of Paris; a location near to the palace of Versailles and close to the home of Madame de Pompadour at the Chateau de Bellevue. From that time the porcelain became officially known as Sevres porcelain.

The earliest Sevres had graceful shapes and soft colors. Sevres pieces produced from 1750 to 1770 were decorated with brilliant colors and heavy gilding. Many of these pieces had richly colored backgrounds and white panels painted with birds, flowers, landscapes, or people. Sevres is also noted for its fine figurines of biscuit (unglazed porcelain). The Sevres factory introduced hard-paste porcelain in the 1770s and soft-paste porcelain production ended in 1804.

The artists decorating many modern day Limoges boxes were inspired by the early intricate patterns and elaborate gilding of the Sevres era, thus the creation of pattern commonly known as Sevres. Pictured  is a modern example of a Limoges box from Limoges Imports - a footed urn. Also pictured is an example of what may have inspired the pattern: a Sevres Beau Bleu Dejeuner c1780, which sold for $6000 at Christies, New York in May 2008.

The Glamorous Game of Roulette

There are many theories as to the origin of roulette. There are rumors that the game was invented in China and popularized in Europe by traders who were trading with the Chinese. However, most agree that the game did begin in France. In French, the word roulette means "small wheel". The idea of a spinning wheel with numbers may be old but evidence suggests that the first Roulette wheel was invented by the mathematician Blaine Pascal in 1655, who was supposedly inspired by his fascination with perpetual-motion devices. In 1842, fellow Frenchmen Francois and Louis Blanc added the "0" to the roulette wheel in order to increase house odds. Some call roulette the "King of Casino Games", probably because it was associated with the glamour of the casinos in Monte Carlo.

During the 20th century, roulette has remained a hugely popular casino game. From Las Vegas to France, roulette has retained its mystique as a glamorous game for high rollers.

Grab the Brass Ring

The beginning of the carousel as we know it today most likely had its origin in France about 300 years ago. During that time, the French built a device to train young noblemen in the art of ring-spearing. The device consisted of carved horses and chariots suspended by chains from arms radiating from a centerpole. The object was to spear the ring. This is also the source of the phrase "grab the brass ring."

By the late 1700's there were numerous carousels built solely for amusement throughout Europe. It was apparent that other members of nobility, particularly ladies and children, and the general public were both eager to climb aboard this new "carrousel,'' (the device having taken the name of the royal pageants which inspired its creation.)  The advent of steam power made possible the more elaborate machines we now associate with carousels.


During the late 1800's, many skilled European carvers immigrated to the United States to produce carousels. The carvings of these immigrants were a great improvement over the first efforts of unskilled carvers. Usually the side of the carousel horse facing the audience, the "Romance" side, was adorned with carved decorations, while the inner side received little attention. The golden age of carousels only lasted 25 years, but still brings back wonderful childhood memories today.

Today, a number of charming carousels may be found in Paris.  Carousels may be found in the Jardin Des Tuileries, in the Parc du Champ de Mars, at bottom of the hill of Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, and in the Luxembourg Gardens.

Daudet's Windmill

Ribet or St Pierre wind-mill, as it was formally called, was built in 1814 in Provence, France and ground wheat during one century. In 1935, the association "Alphonse Daudet's Friends" , decided to restore it and create a museum dedicated to "Les Lettres de mon Moulin", Daudet's most famous work which is a collection of wryly humorous stories admired by Flaubert, Dickens, and Henry James. It evokes the vital rhythms of Provençal life and Daudet’s youth in the mid–nineteenth century. The building is a symbol of the writer and his work.

Daudet is as important to the French as the windmills of Cervantes' Don Quixote are to the Spanish. The stories won French hearts, and they have now become an essential part of French cultural heritage. The tower windmill is typical of those found throughout southern France. Unlike windmills in northern Europe, those of southern France use a sharply peaked conical cap and blades with sails of equal dimensions on either side of the stock or blade spar.