Promenades de Paris (1962)
Design by Philippe Ledoux
Year: 1962, 1970s, 2014 (as 70cm)
No. 1350
Centred on the heraldic arms of the City of Paris, a charming mise en scène captures images of everyday life in the French capital during the First Empire: promenades, bygone trades and children at play. Soldiers and onlookers throng the kiosks, fashionable cafés and restaurants of the Palais Royal. The Tuileries Gardens attract children bowling hoops, hot chestnut-sellers and miniature carriages drawn by goats. The Champs-Elysées is the promenade of choice for elegant carriages, riders and society ladies taking the route to the country, and the racecource at Longchamp. At the Invalides – founded by Louis XIV as a home for wounded servicemen, and the last resting-place of the Emperor Napoleon – the vast esplanade offers a backdrop for military parades and peaceable strolls. Paris is a playground, too: skittles, badminton, and games of skipping and cup-and-ball were favourite pastimes for children in the early nineteenth century.
Old copyright:
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Wednesday, May 28th, 2014 at 12:18 pm under
