Another themed quadrille described by Laure Junot, the Duchess of Abrantès, was the "game of chess" danced, or at least presented, at a masked ball in Paris in the February of 1810. The quadrille was also described in her Memoires de Madame la duchesse d'Abrantes, which were published and republished in multiple volumes in a variety of editions. The French text below was taken from an 1837 fourth edition published in Brussels, which may be found online here. A contemporary (1833) English translation is online here, but it is not a close enough translation and omits some lines, so I've done my own, with reference to it.
Junot spent more time in her memoirs complaining about the costumes and rehearsal time required for this quadrille than she did on the actual performance, but from her description, it seems like very few of the pieces (dancers) actually got to do much, unless perhaps they danced as they entered the board. But what little she describes does mention steps, and the costume descriptions give us a fairly good idea of how the dancers must have appeared: vaguely Egyptian pawns with tightly-wrapped skirts and sleeves like mummies and sphinx-like hairstyles, knights like centaurs with horse rumps made from wicker, rooks wearing wicker towers, and fools (bishops) in caps with bells.
In the winter of 1810, Napoleon and his court being in Paris, Ferdinando, comte Marescalchi, then the minister of foreign affaires for the kingdom of Italy
...voulait qu'il lui donnât un bal, mais un bal masqué, et le plus magnifique que Venise elle-même, Venise la souveraine des plaisirs et des fêtes, eût jamais vu sur ses lagunes.
My translation:
...wanted to give him [Napoleon] a ball, but a masked ball, and the most magnificent that Venice herself, Venice the sovereign of pleasures and parties, would have ever seen on her lagoons.
The ball was to take place in February, at Mardi Gras, and the queen of Naples (Caroline Bonaparte, younger sister of Napoleon) was determined to create a memorable quadrille for the occasion:
La reine de Naples n'avait garde de laisser échapper cette occasion de marquer d'une manière brillante. Elle dominait alors, et voulut dominer également par un quadrille, le plus élégant, le plus somptueusement extraordinaire.
My translation:
The Queen of Naples did not care to let pass this occasion to make her mark in a brilliant way. She dominated then, and wanted to dominate equally by a quadrille, the most elegant, the most sumptuously extraordinary.
She rejected themes taken from Madame Junot's rare books of Spanish costumes, which she had borrowed, because they were not "extraordinary".
Enfin on se rappela qu'il avait été question d'un quadrille, non pas dansé, mais joué sur une toile à carreaux, et cela avec raison, car le quadrille était un jeu d'échecs. A peine le mot fut-il prononcé par Despréaux, ordonnateur en chef des ballets de la cour, que le quadrille fut organisé, les rôles distribués , et chaque matin nous fùmes répéter les pas de la partie dans la grande galerie de l'Élysée, où la reine de Naples avait été reprendre ses quartiers.
My translation:
Finally we recalled that there had been question of a quadrille, not danced, but played on a checkered cloth, and that with reason, because the quadrille was a game of chess. No sooner was the word given by Despréaux, organizer-in-chief of the ballets of the court, than the quadrille was organized, the roles distributed, and each morning we were to repeat the steps of the match in the great gallery of the Élysée, where the Queen of Naples had resumed her quarters.
The dancers were chosen and costumes designed. Madame Junot hated them:
On choisit pour les seize pions seize femmes de même taille ; les deux reines étaient madame de Barral et madame la duchesse de Bassano. Les seize pions étaient en deux couleurs , huit en bleu et huit en rouge. Notre habit était horriblement disgracieux. Ce n'était plus là le voile diaphane des paysannes du Tyrol, leur jupe courte, leurs manches bouffantes.... nous étions habillées comme des figures égyptiennes , avec une jupe de gros de Naples blanc fort étroite, et puis une petite pagne rayée en bleu et argent, ou bien en rouge et or, qui nous enveloppait les hanches en nous les serrant fortement; tandis que nos bras, recouverts de manches de gros de Naples très-étroites, devaient être serrés contre nous, parce que nous figurions des momies.
My translation:
Sixteen women of the same height were chosen as the sixteen pawns; the two queens were Madame de Barral and Madame the Duchesse de Bassano. The sixteen pawns were in two colors, eight in blue and eight in red. Our costume was horribly ugly. It was no longer the diaphanous veil of the peasant women of the Tyrol, their short skirt, their puffed sleeves....we were dressed like Egyptian figures, with a very narrow skirt of white gros de Naples [a sturdy silk], and then a small loincloth striped in blue and silver, or in red and gold, which wrapped our hips and squeezed us tightly; while our arms, covered with very narrow sleeves of gros de Naples, were to be pressed against us, because we imitated mummies.
I hate to say it, but she's right: this sounds hideous. I can see the logic of looking armless; chess pieces don't have arms. But the idea of using an Egyptian mummy look to express this...well.
The hairstyles were likewise unflattering to many:
Notre coiffure était comme celle de ces sphinx qu'on voit au coin de tous les chenets et au bras des escaliers un peu élégants. Cette coiffure - était bien pour celles de nous ayant des traits réguliers, mais je n'ai jamais compris pourquoi la reine l'avait choisie, car elle lui allait horriblement. La duchesse de Rovigo était fort belle, surtout avec le bandeau un peu avancé sur le front ; quant à moi, il m'était égal que la coiffure m'allât bien ou mal, car le costume était si laid que tout le reste m'était indifférent. Les deux reines avaient un costume de reines de théâtre, extrêmement somptueux et fort bien porté par madame de Bassano et madame de Barral; madame de Bassano était surtout admirablement belle.
My translation:
Our hairstyle was like that of these sphinxes, which can be seen at the corner of all the andirons and at the railing of staircases only a little elegant. This hairstyle was good for those of us with regular features, but I never understood why the queen had chosen it, because it was horrible on her. The Duchess de Rovigo was very handsome, especially with the bandeau slightly forward on the forehead; As for me, it was all the same whether the hairstyle was good or bad, for the costume was so ugly that I was indifferent to all the rest. The two queens had a costume of queens from the theater, extremely sumptuous and very well worn by Madame de Bassano and Madame de Barral; Madame de Bassano was especially admirably beautiful.
The gentlemen were not spared:
Les cavaliers étaient coiffés comme nous, en sphinx ; mais ils avaient en manière de queue une croupe de cheval en osier, avec laquelle ils jouaient le centaure à miracle. Les fous étaient les mieux de la troupe : ils portaient un chapeau de fou avec des grelots d'argent et de la couleur de leur cotte; et puis une jolie petite marotte avec des grelots comme au chapeau. Quant aux tours, elles étaient tout simplement représentées par quatre personnes, dont l'une, M. de Ponte, celui qui m'avait écrasée à l'Hôtel-de-Ville, représentait déjà à lui seul la tour de Londres, sans avoir le besoin d'y joindre une tour en osier recouverte d'une toile peinte dans laquelle il s'enfermait. M. de Brigode et M. de Beausset étaient chargés de deux autres tours : je ne me rappelle plus quelle était la quatrième. Anatole et Eugène de Montesquiou, son frère, M. de Septeuil, M. Jules de Canouville, Ernest de Canouville, M. Fritz Pourtales, M. de Curneux, furent chargés de représenter les cavaliers, les fous et les rois.
My translation:
The knights were coiffed like us, as sphinxes; but they had in in the style of a tail the hind parts of a horse made of wicker, with which they magically played centaurs. The fools [bishops] were the best of the troupe: they wore fools-caps with bells of silver and the color of their coat; and then a pretty little puppet with bells like on the hat. As for the towers [rooks], they were all simply represented by four people, one of whom, M. de Ponte, the one who had crushed me at the Hôtel de Ville, already by himself represented the Tower of London, without needing to attach the wicker tower covered with a painted canvas in which to enclose himself. M. de Brigode and M. de Beausset were charged with the two other towers: I no longer remember who was the fourth. Anatole and Eugene de Montesquiou, his brother, M. de Septeuil, M. Jules de Canouville, Ernest de Canouville, M. Fritz Pourtales, and M. de Curneux, were charged with representing knights, fools, and kings.
Each team was guided by an outside "magician" who controlled the pieces:
Deux magiciens armés d'une longue baguette devaient jouer la partie dont nous étions les pions. Du reste, l'armée féminine était composée à peu près comme toujours : c'étaient la reine de Naples, la princesse de Neuchâtel , madame Regnauld, moi, madame Duchâtel, madame de Rovigo , madame de Colbert, madame de Canisy, la princesse de Ponte-Corvo, et plusieurs autres dont j'ai oublié les noms.
My translation:
Two magicians armed with long wands were to play the match in which we were the pawns. For the rest, the feminine army was composed almost as always: it was the queen of Naples, the princess of Neuchatel, Madame Regnauld, myself, Madame Duchâtel, Madame de Rovigo, Madame de Colbert, Madame de Canisy, the princess of Ponte Corvo, and several others whose names I have forgotten.
The game itself was not very long:
...le pion du roi bleu faisait un chassé en avant, le pion de la dame rouge lui ripostait par une pareille manœuvre : c'était la reine de Naples qui était le pion du roi bleu. Le second coup était dansé par moi, je m'avançais auprès de la reine pour la soutenir, étant immédiatement à côté d'elle ; les pions rouges faisaient de même ; ensuite à l'air de Zéphir succédait un autre air très-vulgaire qu'on chantait alors dans toutes les rues (amusez - vous , amusez-vous , amusez - vous , belles...); le pion prenant faisait faire un tour de main au pion pris, et puis le mettait en pénitence sur le côté de l'échiquier. Le magicien bleu touchait alors un cavalier, le magicien rouge un fou; le cavalier arrivait en pas basques, le fou en jetés battus ; on jouait enfin l'échec du berger, et la partie était finie. Croirait-on que pour cette sotte manière de ballet, nous ayons répété pendant quinze jours?
My translation:
...the pawn of the blue king made a chassé forward, the pawn of the red queen riposted with a similar maneuver: it was the Queen of Naples who was the pawn of the blue king. The second blow was danced by me, I advanced toward the queen to support her, being immediately at her side; the red pawns did the same; then the air de Zéphir was succeeded by another, very vulgar air, which was then sung in all the streets (amuse yourself, amuse yourself, amuse yourself, beauties, etc.); the capturing pawn made a turn by the hand with their prize, and then put it in penance at the side of the chessboard. The blue magician then touched a knight, the red magician a fool; the cavalier arrived with pas de Basque, the fool with jetés battus; the shepherd's mate was finally played, and the match was over. Would anyone believe that we had rehearsed for fifteen days for this silly sort of ballet?
Finally the day arrived. After some adventures traveling by carriage to the ball, they arrived and performed:
En arrivant, nous trouvâmes qu'en effet on nous attendait. Deux sauvages prirent une immense toile cirée sur laquelle était figuré un échiquier, et faisant leur entrée dans la salle principale, ils firent taire tous les instruments, étendirent leur tapis, et l'orchestre ayant joué l'air de notre marche, nous arrivâmes en bon ordre, deux par deux. Les magiciens montèrent sur leurs banquettes pour jouer leur partie, et rangèrent leurs pièces; l'échiquier étant en ordre, l'un d'eux toucha la tête du pion bleu avec sa baguette, et le pion partit... On a dit dans le temps que l'empereur était l'un des deux magiciens; mais je n'en ai jamais eu la certitude. Le fait réel de ce ballet, c'est qu'il amusa beaucoup plus les autres qu'il ne nous amusa. Il en est toujours ainsi des comédies et des quadrilles...
My translation:
When we arrived, we found that we indeed awaited us. Two savages took an immense cloth on which figured a chessboard, and making their entrance to the main hall, they quieted all the instruments, spread their carpets, and the orchestra having played the air of our march, we arrived in good order, two by two. The magicians mounted their banquettes to play their part, and arranged their rooms; the chessboard being in order, one of them touched the head of a blue pawn with his wand, and the pawn departed...It was said at the time that the emperor was one of the two magicians; but I have never been certain of it. The real feat of this ballet is that it amused the others much more than it amused us. It is always so with comedies and quadrilles...
I have my doubts about the costumes, but I think this is a magnificent idea for a quadrille and would love to see it replicated, preferably with a bit more dancing, challenging though it would be to choreograph even an adequate game of chess as a dance.
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