A Collector of Saintes: The Fashion Accessories…

The Dupuy Mestreau Museum in the city of Saintes, France is housed in the Monconseil Hotel, built in 1738. The museum is advertised as a ‘cabinet of curiosities’ with about 3,000 artifacts showcasing the cultural history of Saintes. The collector was Cecile Guinot de Monconseil, wife of Etienne, Marquise de Monconseil who was the first owner of the hotel. Cecile set out to collect items that would trace the history of Saintes, though very few items have a provenance or a description attached to them. Objects range from furniture and dishes, to clothing, shoes, jewelry, and accessories.

There were fans and little straw cases:

There were parasols. The shoe at the bottom of the first photo is entirely beaded, and I was surprised to see that this parasol was lined, which encased the stretchers and ribs.

Another parasol had what looked like a double-headed ferrule, and may have had a matching shawl folded up nearby. The one at lower right had a collapsible handle and had bead detailing at the top.

There were combs and coronets.

Silver clasps, goggles and spectacles:

And an entire case of buttons, some hand painted, one with sequin detail. I could not get decent photos of the majority of them:

Two sewing kits, the larger one looks like a beading kit:

A collection of things one might have carried in one’s purse or pocket:

And a case of playing cards, some dating back to the 17th century, as well as some of the printing blocks used to make the.

There is a lot to see at this little museum. Had I arrived earlier, I probably would have spent half the day here…