Tea at Trianon: Umbrellas: The Aesthetics of 19th-Century Urban Life

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

Monday, September 7, 2026

Umbrellas: The Aesthetics of 19th-Century Urban Life

From The History Avenue:

Appearing in Ancient Egypt around the 25th century BC, umbrellas evolved and took on different purposes. In Ancient Egypt, Akkad, and Persia, for example, umbrellas served as status symbols, often tied to regal processions. In Ancient Greece, fashionable ladies used umbrellas as a style statement. In Rome, maidservants also used umbrellas to protect high-status women from the sun. There are rare mentions of umbrellas used for protection from rain. During the Middle Ages and the 16th and 17th centuries, umbrella popularity declined. Umbrellas were mostly reserved for clergy and religious processions. Records also note Italian riders using them as protection from rain.
In the 18th century, things changed. Umbrellas were mostly used by women to protect themselves from rain. There was also a common perception that umbrella users were “vulgar” and didn’t have their own carriage to escape from rain. Apart from women, the most frequent users of umbrellas were the lower classes, who saw them as protection from sudden downpours or long, slow autumn rains. The first lightweight folding umbrella in Europe was introduced by French merchant Jean Marius, who had a shop in Paris. Princess Palatine purchased a model in 1712 and introduced it to her aristocratic friends. Very soon, umbrellas became a hit fashion statement in Paris. This paved the way for luxury umbrellas where the handle was especially important. The makers of umbrellas paid a lot of attention to crafting special handles depicting animals and having special shapes made from precious materials and carefully ornamented. In England, Jonas Hanway, a merchant and the founder of Magdalen Hospital, was the first person who braved public ridicule by carrying an umbrella in public. By the end of the 18th century, umbrellas were widely accepted by English gentlemen. (Read more.)