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(French, 1804–1866)
J'ai ta lettre cherie, o mon Ernest... (I have your dear letter, oh my Ernest...), 1838
Lithograph
Gift of Eugene L. Garbaty, 1951.79.14
In the early 19th century, hair curling was popular among men and women. Curling was a difficult, painful, and some-times harmful process. Advice manuals and hygiene treatises recommended the use of papillottes or curl papers over the rudi-mentary curling irons available at the time. The brushing or dressing of another person’s hair, when not performed by a professional, was seen as a very inti-mate act.
— J'ai ta lettre cherie, o mon Ernest, je la presse sur mon coeur et la couvre de mes baisers ... qu'il m'est doux de penser que tu en fais autant de la mienne ! Comme l'amour sait poétiser les choses les plus vulgaires ! ton Elise.
Ernest s'en fait des papillottes.
— I have your dear letter, oh my Ernest, I’m pressing it against my heart and covering it with kisses… how sweet it is to think that you’re doing the same with mine. How love poeticizes even the most commonplace things! Your Elise.
Ernest uses the love letter as curlpaper.
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The Human Comedy: Chronicles of 19th-Century France
J'ai ta lettre
Paul Gavarni (French, 1804–1866) J'ai ta lettre cherie, o mon Ernest... (I have your dear letter, oh my Ernest...), 1838 Lithograph Gift of Eugene L. Garbaty, 1951.79.14
In the early 19th century, hair curling was popular among men and women. Curling was a difficult, painful, and some-times harmful process. Advice manuals and hygiene treatises recommended the use of papillottes or curl papers over the rudi-mentary curling irons available at the time. The brushing or dressing of another person’s hair, when not performed by a professional, was seen as a very inti-mate act.
— J'ai ta lettre cherie, o mon Ernest, je la presse sur mon coeur et la couvre de mes baisers ... qu'il m'est doux de penser que tu en fais autant de la mienne ! Comme l'amour sait poétiser les choses les plus vulgaires ! ton Elise.
Ernest s'en fait des papillottes.
— I have your dear letter, oh my Ernest, I’m pressing it against my heart and covering it with kisses… how sweet it is to think that you’re doing the same with mine. How love poeticizes even the most commonplace things! Your Elise.
Ernest uses the love letter as curlpaper.