Tea at Trianon: Locks of Hair

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, February 19, 2010

Locks of Hair

Tendrils of the hair of Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette are entwined together in a ring that the Queen gave to her children's governess, Madame de Tourzel.

HERE is a beautiful tribute to Louis XVI. Share

8 comments:

May said...: Thank you for the link- and it is quite touching to see those locks of hair!; February 19, 2010 at 9:45:00 AM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Yes, it is, I am moved every time I look at the picture!; February 19, 2010 at 9:46:00 AM EST
tubbs said...: We may not have photos of this couple, but we do have some photo-realism in their later portraits.

Seeing these ringlets was...I can't put it into words...well, Matterhorn said it best - 'touching'

Living down here in the Peroxide Belt --- Seeing natural flaxen-colored hair is nice too.; February 19, 2010 at 1:48:00 PM EST
Enbrethiliel said...: +JMJ+

It's better than diamonds!; February 20, 2010 at 2:33:00 AM EST
Catherine Delors said...: These rings with locks of hair were extremely popular as sentimental keepsakes in the late 18th/early 19th centuries. We are discussing them on Janeite lists in connection with Sense & Sensibility. Do you mind if I link to this, Elena? This is a particularly fine example.; February 20, 2010 at 3:09:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Much better, E. and more precious, too.

Please do, Catherine, and thank you for the helpful comment!; February 20, 2010 at 3:17:00 PM EST
elena maria vidal said...: Tubbs, I am moved by all the gray hairs.; February 20, 2010 at 3:18:00 PM EST
Aron said...: Wow...I, too, am strangely touched seeing this sweet and beautiful relic...
It is a bit...different...to think that I was echoing an old idea back in the day without realizing it.(When my grandmother died in 2006 I was at her bedside, brushing her hair and holding her hand. A few strands came away in my hand, but, knowing what was coming, I could not bear to throw them away. Afterward, I had them set in a locket that I almost always wear under my shirt next to my heart. Obviously not in the shower or wrestling, at the gym, ect.) Such a wonderful memento of MA and Louis for someone! <><; February 22, 2010 at 3:06:00 AM EST