I learned to love pearlware busts while working with the extraordinary busts in Nancy and Herbert Hunt's collection of early pottery figures. Among those that won me over is this charming bust portraying Josephine, wife of Napoleon Bonaparte. Height is approximately 13 inches.
Courtesy Collection of William Herbert and Nancy Hunt.
Josephine is known by many names and titles: Josephine Bonaparte, Josephine de Beauharnais (the name she carried when she met Napoleon after the execution of her first husband), Empress Josephine (the title conferred on her when Napoleon put a crown on her head at their coronation ceremony in 1804). Less well known is that Josephine was born Marie Josephe Rose Tascher de La Pagerie, and she went by the name Rose....but Napoleon preferred calling her Josephine, so Josephine she became. Josephine retained her fondness for her former name, Rose. Appropriately, she took an avid interest in horticulture and planted rose gardens at Malmaison. Under her patronage, modern rose hybridization began, leading to the thousands of rose cultivars we enjoy today. For this reason, Josephine has been dubbed "the Godmother of modern rosomaniacs."
Courtesy Collection of William Herbert and Nancy Hunt. We are told Josephine had a sallow expression and kept her mouth closed as much as possible to conceal her bad teeth...but I do think this bust is just lovely. It is pretty from the back too, is it not?
The Hunt Collection's bust of Josephine is the only example I know of that is decorated totally with enamel colors. I have recorded two other examples from the same molds that were decorated somewhat differently. The silver luster bust below used to be in the stock of Paul Vandekar. Silver luster decoration indicates manufacture some time in or after 1805, but I wouldn't think that either the silver luster or enamel-painted bust had been made much later than 1815.
Courtesy Paul Vandekar
The bust of Josephine below was formerly in the stock of Steven S. Powers. It's apparently from the same molds as the previous two busts (although the socle is somewhat different), but it has been decorated predominantly with a yellow glaze as well as black enamel. A slightly darker glaze decorates the hair, it seems. Yellow--how appropriate for a lady with a sallow expression!
Courtesy of Steven S. Powers.
Josephine's marriage to Napoleon was tumultuous to say the least, and she reportedly was far from faithful. Despite this, Napoleon loved her till death parted them--even though the couple had divorced by that time. Josephine did not give Napoleon any children, but she had two children by her first marriage. Through them, her blood flows in the veins of many of today's European royalty--and of course her roses brighten gardens across the world.
