Allen Memorial Art Museum, Oberlin College

The Human Comedy: Chronicles of 19th-Century France

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Oh! hé! viens-tu souper la Gustine !

Oh! hé! viens-tu souper la Gustine !

Paul Gavarni (French, 1804–1866) Oh ! hé ! viens-tu souper la Gustine !... (Hey, are you coming out to supper with us Gustine?), 1842 Lithograph Gift of Eugene L. Garbaty, 1951.79.67

Of the many costumes Gavarni designed for the masked balls, the débardeur was the most popu-lar. The costume consisted of a loose, comforta-ble top and tight-fitting but supple pants, which showed off a woman’s curves while also allowing her to perform frenetic dances like the cancan. It was based on the outfit worn by débardeurs, or stevedores—dockworkers who unloaded the coal or firewood barges that traveled down the Seine to Paris.

The masked ball was a favorite haunt of the lorette, always on the lookout for a new Arthur or wealthy lover and benefactor, and the débardeur was one of her favorite costumes. In Sentimental Education (1869), a novel set in the 1840s, Gus-tave Flaubert has his lorette Rosanette Bron throw her own masked ball at which she dresses up like a sailor. In preparation for writing these scenes, Flaubert scoured old issues of Le Chari-vari, studying carnival prints by Gavarni.

—Oh ! hé ! viens-tu souper la Gustine ! — Laisse-la donc ! madame ne vit que de sentiment ce soir ! ... (Elle a trouvé son petit paroissien de jeudi, et c'en est une, mon cher, de colombe, qui resterait là vingt quatre heures sans boire ni manger, c'te bête-là !)

—Hey, are you coming out to supper with us, Gustine? —Leave her be! Madame’s living on love and fresh air tonight! … She ran into her little parishioner from Thursday, and she’s a real dove, that one, who is likely to go twenty-four hours without eating or drinking, the silly thing!

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