The Colour Palette of Fashion: Yellow

China was one of the larger influence of yellow clothing in the 18th century. So-called "Nankeen"-yellow - originating in Nanjing - became fashionable; it was a paler version of yellow. During the 18th century, the trading between China and Europe became more common which inevitably led to an increased influence of Chinese cultural views in Europe. In fashion, the colour yellow became associated with wealth and prosperity - thus perfect for the aristocracy. As for the Chinese, they had long considered yellow to be an indicator of glory, wisdom and wealth.

From the left: 1) possibly a gown for a young girl, unknown origin,
2) a plain robe à la Française, 3) a robe à la Française, 1760's, UK

The colour yellow could be achieved from a variety of natural sources. The expensive - and imported - silks from China were usually dyed with saffron. Considering that saffron remains the most expensive spice in the world, it is not hard to imagine how high the prices could get for quality silk. The connection was China was not limited to imported goods. From the mid-18th century, most European courts (and Versailles, too) became fascinated with Asia where the colour yellow was often associated with royalty.

1) Robe à la Française 1760-79, British or French, 2) Robe à la Française, 1760
3) Robe volante, 1730's

On a more domestic level, weld was widely used and had been since the Bronze Age. This could come in handy for those courtiers who wanted to imitate the more expensive colourings but lacked the funds for it. Tumeric were also a good, natural source.

1) Another gown for a child, 1775-85, British
2) Robe à la Polonaise, 1770's
3) Robe à la Française, 1760, British

A new source of yellow dye became more available in the 18th century, as ships brought back new materials from the Americas and French colonies. Amongst the new sources were fustic and "quercitron" - the inner bark of a specific type of oak (called Eastern Black Oak) growing in North America. However, fustic had the unfortunate tendency to fade, especially on cotton.

1) Robe à la Française, 1750-75, 2) Robe à la Française, 1750's
3) Robe à la Française, 1760's

Different shades of yellow had their own time in the sun. Around 1735, pale yellow was considered very fashionable; a trend that would later be revisited when pastels took over from a more vibrant colour-scheme. Diana Reid Haig mentions that Marie Antoinette and her milliner, Rose Bertin, used lemon yellow which the author refers to as an "unusual hue" - it can therefore be deduced that this particular shade of yellow was not in fashion in the mid-1770's.

The favour of pale yellow is quite unusual since at this point in time stronger hues were usually preferred. An observer at the court of England in 1744, noted a lady wearing a gown and petticoat both in yellow which was "very much the mode in England at present".

1) Waistcoat, 1730's, French, 2) Coat, 1750-70, possibly British,
3) Full suit, 1750-80, French

1) Banyan, 1780, British, 2) A full suit, 1785, Spanish
3) Waistcoat, 1750's, French

Naturally, the colour found its way into the very furniture of the court. When the sickly dauphin, Louis Joseph (son of Louis XVI), was sent to Meudon to recover his health, it was noted that this tutor, the Duc d'Harcourt was given a new bed of yellow damask. In a similar vein, wallpapers and various pieces of furniture were adorned with the sunny colour. For instance, Madame du Barry's antechamber was painted in a mixture of lilac and yellow.

1) Waistcoat, 1730's, 2) Full suit, 1770's, Italian
3) Waistcoat, 1750's

However, yellow had been fashionable earlier, too. From the letters of Madame, we know that the Duchesse de Foix wore a yellow gown with matching yellow ribbons in her hair for a ball in 1720. Even earlier, the English Princess Louisa Maria Stuart (in France with her exiled family) wore a set of yellow velvet for the New Year's celebrations of 1708.

Yellow was one of those colours that survived throughout the 18th century due to its innumerable shades. Everything from the palest yellow, to primrose to a deep saffron yellow could be found in the milliners' shops. New shades of yellow meant new - and often ridiculous - names: "dying ape", "poisoned ape" (one can only wonder what the apes did to deserve such a fate), "Merry Widow", "unhappy friend" - even "sick Spaniard"!

1) A hunting coat - or Caraco - for a woman, 1720-40,
2) Shoes, French, 3) Corset, French, 4) Embroidered
cap, French

Luckily for those who delighted in the sunny shade, there were several types of gemstones that perfectly fit their yellow garb. Anne of Austria, for one, owned a necklace of pearls and yellow diamonds. Likewise, the Princesse de Lamballe received (amongst many others) a pair of bracelets adorned with yellow diamonds.

One of the more popular types of using yellow in clothing was embroidering yellow silk with colourful flowers. The Parisians appear to have been particularly creative in this regard. Elisabeth Farnese, queen of Spain, wrote to her friend, the Duchesse de Saint-Pierre in which she spoke of a beautiful silk from Paris which she had recently ordered. It was the colour of straw and had small, embroidered flowers.

Madame Thélusson, Unknown lady (1720-40),
Lady Monoux

Hortense Mancini, Unknown lady, Johanna Warner

When Madame de Pompadour began establishing herself at Versailles, she chose yellow as the colour of her livery, for the time being at least. Meanwhile, the House of Bourbon-Conti had long had yellow as their livery.  Towards the last years of the French royal family, yellow was not in good standing with the French people. Yellow and black happened to be the colours of the Habsburg Empire and as their (then) hated queen Marie Antoinette was Austrian, yellow became associated with the counterrevolution. 

Francisco Cabarrús and an unknown,
Italian man

Eau de la Reine d'Hongrie

The so-called "elixir" of eau de la Reine d'Hongrie was known to the English as Hungary Water. The name is derived from the woman for whom it was first made: Elizabeth of Hungary. Legend has it that a hermit offered the queen a vial in 1370 - this would be the first alcohol-based perfume. Allegedly, the new wonder-water preserved the queen's beauty. From there, it was transported via Hungarian merchants throughout Europe.

Its dominant notes were rosemary but later lavender would be added - some would even add a bit of sage or thyme. The latter two were described in the recipe for the concoction by Simon Barbe. He would also advocate adding the plant alkanet which rendered the water a delicate purple. Besides the alcohol, it would be distilled with rosemary water.

Rather than being considered merely as a perfume, it was also believed to have strong medicinal powers. For example, it was thought to be ideal as a replacement for smelling-salts. As is usually the case for such concoctions, its medicinal purposes were considered to be wide-ranging. The Princesse d'Epinoy held such high hopes on her Hungary Water that she is said to have asked her son to bring her some, as she was feeling very unwell. Whether he did or not is unclear but she would die shortly after from apoplexy. 

In the next century, Fargeon prescribed the perfume as a soothing agent for Marie Antoinette when she expecting her first child. She suffered under the intense heat of the summer and used the water to help her relax before going to bed. Fargeon was not the first to use it in this manner, though. Almost 70 years prior - specifically on 29 July 1720 - the Regent of France (Philippe II d'Orléans) had been seized with what appears to have been a panic attack during a council meeting. However, as Mathieu Marais relate, he was restored to his senses after having been given the famed elixir.

Sébastien Matte la Faveur described the production process of Hungary Water in detail in his "Pratique de Chymie" of 1671. Naturally, he was amongst those who sung the medicinal praises of the water. He proclaimed that it was well-known to be a cure for all illnesses related to cold, including gout and tremors. It was also claimed to work against jaundice and even heart palpitations. 

A modern bottle of Hungary
Water by Nicolas de Berry

The production appears to have been a lengthy process. Faveur dedicated at least 3 days just for the initial distillation of rosemary and Barbe advocated that the finished product was to be left exposed to sunlight for a whole month.

It is therefore not surprising that eau de la Reine d'Hongrie would be a stable amongst the French aristocracy. When the Duc de Saint-Simon described the rigours of the winter of 1709 he specifically mention that it was cold enough indoors to freeze even the Hungarian Water. Later, it would be given as a gift from Empress Maria Theresia to Madame de Pompadour upon the alliance between France and the Austrian Empire in 1756 - quite a fitting gift, since Maria Theresia was Queen of Hungary. Nor was the present unappreciated, as the royal mistress was noted to rub her temples with it.

Madame de Maintenon had declared it to be her favourite and had it distributed to her young wards in the Saint-Cyr institute. Likewise, Madame de Sévigné swore by it.

The eau de la Reine d'Hongrie appears to have universally favoured - both men and women had it and it remained a stable within aristocratic society throughout the 18th century even when it received competition from eau de Cologne. Besides its suggested benefits, it was naturally used as a perfume, too. It is still being used today - for instance, the exclusive perfumer Nicolas de Barry carries it in its original form. 

The King's Foreign Soldiers

In the 17th century, the French army was a formidable opponent. France produced plenty of eminent soldiers herself; Turenne, Condé, Luxembourg, Créquy etc. However, the glittering standards bearing the fleur-de-lys attracted likeminded warriors from other nations. While obviously not in the majority, the foreign soldiers could be given the same honours as their French counter-parts; including the title of Marèchal. These were some of the foreign soldiers who volunteered for the French army in the 17th and 18th century.

Armand-Frédéric de Schomberg, Duc de Schomberg

Born in Heidelberg, Armand-Frédéric was a co-patriot of the second Madame, Elizabeth Charlotte. He entered the French army in 1635, eight years before the birth of Louis XIV. During the Fronde, he served under Turenne with the rank of maréchal de camp. Despite having served Louis le Grand in his fight to maintain royal power, that same power would eventually force him to leave France.  Armand-Frédéric was a Protestant and refused to convert to Catholicism - as a consequence, he was obliged to leave France after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

Armand-Frédéric

Charles O'Brien, Vicomte Clare

Originally an Irishman, Charles entered the French army as a colonel and would fight against Spain in 1718. He would be awarded the title of maréchal de camp after having participated in the War of the Polish Succession and later the Battle of Fontenoy in 1745. Besides his new title, he was also invested as a knight of the Order of Saint-Louis in the chapel at Versailles.

Conrad de Rosen, Comte de Bolweiller

Conrad was born in Livonia, then under Swedish control. Initially, he entered the Swedish army but was exiled when he killed an officer in a duel. He used his relative's, Reinhold Von Rosen, influence to gain a place in the French Army where he would excel on several occasions, including the Siege of Cambray where he was wounded. While he was never awarded the title of Maréchal, he was promoted to general.

Conrad

Donald Cameron

A Scotsman by birth, Donald Cameron was the chief of Clan Cameron but had to flee Scotland after the Battle of Culloden - in which he was severely wounded. He was received by Louis XV who allowed him to enter the Regiment of Albanie and granted him a knighthood in the Order of Saint-Louis. However, he would not serve in the French Army for long as he did in 1748.

Donald

Frantz Adam Karrer

Frantz was born in Alsace, which was not French at the time, but first entered French service in 1686 at the age of 20. He was a prime example of how a commoner could raise himself up through the armed forces. When he began service, he was an officer cadet but rose through the ranks as lieutenant before buying a half-company of his own in 1709. He would later raise a regiment of foot-soldiers which would be given his name; he would finally become a brigadier before handing over his regiment to his son.

Josias Rantzau, Comte de Rantzau

The Comte de Rantzau was born in Denmark where he would acquire a military background - this he would use in the service of the Danish king, the Prince of Orange, the king of Sweden, the Holy Roman Empire and finally France. He partook in the Thirty Years' War, after which he was made Marèchal de France.

Maurice de Saxe, Comte de Saxe

Born in Lower Saxony, Maurice would partake in both the War of the Polish and the Austrian Succession. In the latter, his assault on Prague spread his name throughout Europe - and resulted in Louis XV awarding him the title of Maréchal de France. It was his achievement at the Battle of Fontenoy - where Louis XV himself was present - that would cement his status at the French court. His strategy secured a French victory and the French king awarded him the elaborate Château de Chambord for life.

Maurice 

Johann Nicolas Luckner, Baron de Luckner

The Bavarian Luckner spent his first years as a soldier in the armies of Bavaria, the Netherlands and Hannover. Despite having fought against France in the Seven Years' War, he would enter into the French Army in 1763 as a lieutenant-general. Unlike the others on this list, his title of Maréchal de France was awarded due to his support of the French revolution. He would fight for the new republic but his support did not save his life - he was guillotined at the age of 71.

Johann Nicolas

Woldemar de Lowendal, Comte de Lowendal

Another Dane, Woldemar Lowendal (or Valdemar Løvendal) received his military education in the armies of Denmark, Russia and Saxony. He would fight for France in the War of the Austrian Succession during which he would partake in the Battle of Fontenoy as well as the sieges of Ostende, Namur, Oudenarde and Gent. However, his greatest achievement was the conquest of the Dutch town Bergen op Zoom for which he was awarded the title of Maréchal de France.

The Dolls of the Blood

People of the past were generally shorter than we are today; even so, some stood out due to their remarkably small figures. Four ladies at the court of Versailles were in just such a situation: the daughters of the Prince de Condé.

Marie Thérèse, Louise Bénédicte, Anne Marie and Marie Anne de Bourbon-Condé were princesses of the blood (princesses du sang) and unusually small - even as adults. Their height was quickly noticed which led some courtiers to refer to them as poupées du sang - dolls of the blood. This monicker has traditionally been traced back to the Duchesse de Bourbon. Others were less polite and called them simply "little black beetles" - a reference to their very dark eyes and hair.

Their diminutive height appears to have been hereditary. La Grande Mademoiselle was present at the marriage of their grandmother, Claire-Clémence de Maillé, and described her as very short. It had apparently been necessary to put her in elevated shoes (this was before the advent of high heels) for the occasion which caused her to trip in her dress. Also, their brother - Louis, Duc de Bourbon - was also quite short. He was 18 years old at the time of his marriage; nevertheless, both he and his bride were described as "marionettes" by the Marquis de Sourches.

Louise Bénédicte

Marie Anne

Naturally, such an obvious attribute as one's height was impossible to conceal - even with high-heeled shoes. Even their own father could not help but commenting on his children's remarkably short statures. According to the Duc de Saint-Simon, the Prince de Condé is said to have joked that if his family went on diminishing they would eventually disappear completely. Others could not help but add some vulgarity to the speculation and claimed that the princesses were so small because their mother had had "a dwarf" in her inner circle...

When the Duc du Maine became old enough, he wished to marry. Madame de Maintenon - who had been his governess - set about finding him an ideal wife. Initially, she was not keen on a marriage to one of the Condé-daughters. In a letter of 27 September 1691, the king's maitresse revealed her reasons for being apprehensive. As she wrote to the Abbess of Fontevrault, "... the daughter of Monsieur le Prince are mere dwarfs. Do you know of any others?" 

Anne Marie who was passed over by
the Duc du Maine

Despite this, the Duc du Maine was eventually told to chose a wife from amongst the unwed daughters of the Prince de Condé. It is said that he chose Louise Bénédicte because she was slightly taller than her elder sister, Anne Marie. According to Madame, Louise Bénédicte was no taller than a child of 10 years. The rejection was hard on Anne Marie. Her health was not good and she soon declined rapidly; naturally, it was claimed that her death not long afterwards was caused by chagrin at the rejection.

It was even alleged that their height had prevented an otherwise advantageous match. The Italian Duke of Mantua had looked at both Anne Marie and Marie Anne as potential brides but as the duke was said to abhor very short women he was eventually abandoned the project. Of all the princesses the tallest also happened to be the eldest. Marie Thérèse, Princesse de Conti was still short but not quite as tiny as her younger sisters.

The tallest of the sisters, Marie Thérèse

The Turbulent Marriage of the Duc and Duchesse d'Orléans

It is well-known that the mésalliance between the king's illegitimate daughter, Françoise Marie de Bourbon, and the son of the Duc d'Orléans, Philippe II d'Orléans, caused quite a scandal. Nevertheless, the marriage went ahead. While it was dynastically sensible for the king to marry his natural daughter to such a high-ranking prince of the blood, the match was far from a happy one.

The attitude of both bride and groom to their prospective marriage was one quite typical of the time. Neither were in love with the other but both acknowledged and submitted to the king's wishes. Françoise Marie herself said it best when she declared "I care not that he loves but that he marries me". And that he did on 18 February 1692.

Shortly after the marriage it became clear that the couple were far from made for each other. In an age where arranged marriages were the norm, it was an implicit agreement between husband and wife that while they did not necessarily love - or even care - for each other, they would maintain a respectful but distanced relationship. This does not appear to have been the case for the young couple.

The Duc de Chartres was heard referring to his wife as Madame Lucifer. His mother were equally unimpressed by the young Françoise. She claimed that her new daughter-in-law was incredibly drunk several times a week - however, it should be remembered that Madame d'Orléans had been opposed to the match from the beginning, going so far as to publicly slap her son when she learnt of it.

Françoise Marie

It was said that Françoise was vain to the extreme. Despite being born out of wedlock (a marker of shame at the time), she considered herself to be above her husband since she was the daughter of the king while her husband was merely his (legitimate) nephew. Françoise apparently made it quite clear to her husband that she considered him to be fortunate that he had got to marry her.

While Françoise might have been remarkably vain she was not a source of scandal. In contrast, Philippe was a notorious womaniser who fathered several illegitimate children of his own. Naturally, this did little to bring the couple closer together. When informed of her husbands infidelities, Françoise reacted with bursts of explosive anger - but not for the obvious reason. Rather than feeling betrayed, she was outraged that he would publicly humiliate her by having affairs with such low-ranking women as opera dancers. The root of the issues was once again pride rather than any hurt affection between the two. It was also noted that she did nothing to "win him back".

That same pride was to be found in her father, Louis XIV. While Philippe was initially obliged to keep his dalliances a secret, his affair with Mademoiselle de Séry - a maid-of-honour to his mother - eventually became public knowledge when she gave birth to a son. Louis summoned his brother, Philippe d'Orléans, and asked him to chastise the young Duc de Chartres. Apparently, the Duc d'Orléans refused arguing that Louis had never paid to promised dowry.

Philippe

The marriage did not improve upon the death of Philippe d'Orléans in 1701. This raised the Duc and Duchesse de Chartres to the rank of Duc and Duchesse d'Orléans. It also meant that the surviving Philippe was obliged to spent considerably more time at court - where his wife was. It added a further strain on their marriage that Louis XIV had never been fond of his nephew. The only way for Philippe to gain any admiration from his uncle/father-in-law was by improving his behaviour towards his wife... much to his chagrin.

When Louis XIV in turn died in 1715, the couple did not spend a lot of time together. As regent, Philippe had moved the centre of government back to Paris; not to the Louvre, but to his own residence, the Palais-Royal. Meanwhile, Françoise preferred to remain at her favourite residence of Bagnolet. Here, she could enjoy the increase in annual revenue that her husband had allowed her. Such an increase could be seen as paradoxical since the two had no love for one another. However, they were both mindful of the grandeur to which they had a claim. As such, the augmentation was not unlike the standards of the time - while estranged, the couple still made up one unit to which due deference was to be shown.

Despite their unhappy union, the couple still managed to produce eight children: Marie Louise, Adélaide, Charlotte Aglaé, Louis, Louise Élisabeth, Philippine and Louise.