Linda Ganstrom

 

Linda Ganstrom

Bell(e): Pompadour

Porcelain figure stained and painted on steel skirt covered in tulle with antique pins

 

 

 



Inspiration and Celebration

Madame Pompadour, Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour

Reinette or little queen

Madame Pompadour lived from December 29, 1721 to April 15, 1764 (Died age 42).

Jeanne married in 1741 to Charles-Guillaume Le Normant d’Etiolles and had two children. In 1745, she attended a masked ball at Versailles and caught the king's eye.  She became the king’s mistress and moved into Versailles.  She had a cordial relationship with Maria Leszcznska, the Queen.  She loved to accompany the King in hunting, gambling and traveling, gave dinner parties and plays, and generally amused the king.  She was the official chief mistress of Louis XV from 1745 until her death in 1764 (19 years).  She was his active lover from 1745 – 1750 and suffered two miscarriages. She was intelligent, beautiful, refined, well educated, and talented at acting, music and dance.   She founded a salon frequented by philosophers including Voltaire and was a powerful cultural leader. She loved and supported the arts and commissioned an idealized portrait of herself by Boucher.  Pompadour is responsible for the development and promotion of the royal porcelain factory at Sevres, popularizing French court porcelains in the Rococo style. Sevres pink is called the Rose of Pompadour. She also popularized a preference for adding gilt bronze handles to Chinese porcelains to make them fit the Rococo style.  She planned buildings such as the Place de la Concorde and Petit Trianon.