On a hot day spring day towards the end of a brocante market we found treasures tucked inside an old portfolio. Watching over them was a hawk eyed vendor, who we could tell knew he had something rather special.
With colours so fresh it was as though they were seeing sunlight for the first time, inside were ten almost perfect condition architectural lithographs from the 19th century, depicting Normandy villas.
Each lithograph is an elegant masterpiece.
Published in Paris by Spiégel in 1886 and part of a series ‘La Brique et la terre cuite’ by Pierre Chabat, the lithographs show villas by three architects. They were all printed by A. Lemercier.
We have seen a few of the real villa’s still standing in Calvados; some a little dusty, others proudly polished icons from a glorious time when Normandy’s seaside was the height of fashion.
Villa Adelaide, TrouvilleVilla Brodu, BeuzevalCommuns a Houlgate
Taken between between 1890 and 1900, these photochrom images of Honfleur are at once familiar yet remote. We recognise buildings but can only envy the photographer who saw a steam ship dock by the Chenin Blanc hotel, or took a horse drawn carriage ride past la Lieutenance. Photochrom, a method of adding colour to black and…
This week our guest blogger is Donald G. Mitchell who adds a personal view of Rouen to some rather lovely etchings and drawings by Charles Pinet. Donald was an American traveler, essayist and novelist who usually wrote under the pen name Lk Marvel. Donald's wonderful descriptive article about Rouen in the 19th century first appeared…
Sharp turrets, silver tipped in the moonlight against an inky sky. Our vintage postcard depicting J. Hugo d'Alès’ illustration of Château d'Ô was a tempting romantic marvel. A slight kink, a bend in one cardboard corner rendered the postcard delicate and somehow more precious. We placed it carefully within a plastic pocket. We would not heavily…
There is an old stone tower deep in the Normandy Cotentin countryside that could be considered unremarkable. Although its rooms are an unusual combination of chapel below and dovecote above, it is a forlorn truth that this is not the sort of building people drive miles out of their way to see. But we did.…
Or, how the Noireau river got a little piece of the Mulberry Harbour for a bridge... The Résistance in action In June 1944 a few days after the Allies landed on Normandy’s beaches, a few members of the Résistance quietly met in the small village of Le Pont Grat, in enemy occupied Vallée de la…
