The Tastemaker

Provenance:

Acquired directly from the estate of Sarah Bernhardt, thence by descent in the collection of the Charlotte Cushman Foundation, Philadelphia.

Property sold on behalf of the Charlotte Cushman Foundation.

Note:

Sarah Bernhardt, the dynamic and long-standing French stage actress, started life with humble beginnings. Born in 1844 in Paris as Henriette Rosin-Bernard, she was the daughter of a courtesan mother and an attorney father. After time spent at a boarding school for girls, followed by a Catholic convent, Sarah, supported by the Duke of Morny, found her calling as an actor. She attended classes at the Conservatory in Paris and landed her first big role, Iphigénie in 1862.

Her acting career lasted nearly 60 years, until her death in 1923, and spanned a number of major roles in productions such as Ruy Blas, La Tosca, Theodora, and Hamlet, to name a few. She was widely successful, touring throughout Europe and America, and was immortalized in popular media, including photographs by Nadar, theatre posters by Alphonse Mucha, and even on screen in a few silent films.

This crown was designed for Sarah's role in Medea, in 1898. Mucha's theatre poster for the Théâtre de la Renaissance depicts Sarah's fierce gaze, wearing a fantastic crown, although stylistically different than the subject piece. The actress would wear a number of crowns in various roles over the course of her career, which she undoubtedly played a hand in selecting.