On Tuesday, April 23, 1867, a children's fancy dress ball, or bal travesti, was held at the home of General Émile Félix Fleury, a prominent senator and equerry of the Emperor Napoleon III. The event was covered in the pages of Le Monde Illustré on May 4, 1867, with the illustration below (click to enlarge) and a brief description of the event.
Bal d’enfants travesti, donné le 23 avril, chez le général Fleury,
grand écuyer de S. M. L’Empereur — Le galop final.
Children's fancy dress ball, given the 23rd of April at the home of Général Fleury,
Grand Equerry of His Majesty the Emperor — The final galop.
A full transcription of the original article with my translation is given at the end of this post.
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General Émile Félix Fleury (1815-1884), shown at left in an 1868 portrait by Édouard Louis Dubufe (click to enlarge) was a Bonapartist officer who by 1867 had worked his way up to Divisional General and been appointed to the French Legion of Honor as well as a Senator and Grand Equerry to the Crown, according to his public biography (in French). He would later become a diplomat at the Italian court and ambassador to Russia.
The short article about his children's ball is primarily a gushing accounting of the adorable children (of wealthy and/or noble families) present and their costumes, with almost nothing about the event itself, but it serves as an amusing example of an upper-class French children's ball of this era. According to the article, the general's wife was the hostess of the ball, assisted by his two older sons, Maurice and Adrien (who were around 11 and 10, respectively, at that time) with "much good grace and enthusiasm".
Easily identifiable attendees included a Mlle de Metternich, probably ten-year-old Princess Sophie von Metternich-Sandor Winneburg, eldest daughter of the famous socialite Pauline von Metternich; Hélènè de Conégliano, daughter and heir of the Duke de Conégliano and future Duchesse de Lespar(r)e by marriage; and seven-year-old Foulques de Pracomtal, son of a marquis of the famous de Pracomtal family.
Entertainment at the intermission was provided by professional performers. From left to right below: the soprano Zulma Bouffar; the tenor Jean-François-Philibert Berthelier; and an advertisement for the famous Benoiton family of vaudeville performers, one of whose children performed. Click to enlarge the images.
Costumes attributed to specific children included a cantinière (a role better known to me as a vivandière, a woman attached as support staff to a military regiment), Diana the Huntress (accompanied by "a magnificent black greyhound as tall as she was"), a fisherman, an officer of the French Guards, a Hungarian costume (on a girl), "snow" (two sisters), and a "fantasia". The two Fleury boys were dressed as light cavalrymen (chevau-légers) of unspecified regiment. Foulques de Pracomtal came as an Incroyable, a late 18th century Parisian dandy. Another boy attended as a Death Hussar, a member of an 18th century cavalry squadron who wore black uniforms decorated with several skulls-and-crossbones. A detail of a Death Hussar from Jean-Baptiste Mauzaisse's Battle of Fleurus is at left (click to enlarge).
A favorite brother-sister pair were the Vandal children, who attended as a postman and a letter. He distributed little "almanacs" decorated with portraits of the Prince Imperial, eleven-year-old Louis-Napoléon, son of the Emperor, for whom the popular Prince Imperial Quadrille was named. Her costume was decorated with postage stamps and cachets and topped off with an envelope. The pair are visible in the detail at left (click to enlarge and see the detail on her costume), probably with Foulques de Pracomtal in the bicorne behind and to the right. The postman costume is rather good; compare with the 1860s French postman shown here (supposedly from the Musée de La Poste). Her envelope headdress blends into the bodice of the woman standing behind her, presumably their mother.
I also want to note this child:
I am not sure what his costume is -- Punchinello, perhaps, or a generic clown? -- but he's clearly having a wonderful time.
The only actual dance mentioned is the final galop shown in the illustration, for which the author described "the Wolf and the Red Riding Hood, the Berchini Hussars, the Cantinières, the Candiotes, the gallant Abbots and the Brigands of Abruzzo" parading side by side. It's not clear whether those were actually worn at the ball -- they're not visible in the illustration as far as I can tell -- or whether she was merely waxing poetic with a list of popular costumes. The Berchini Hussars were another 18th century cavalry regiment. Brigands of various sorts were famously a problem in the mountains of southern Italy, including Abruzzo, in the 1860s; a typical image may be seen here.
The transcription of the original article with my translation is below.
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Le Monde Illustré, May 4, 1867
LE BAL D'ENFANTS CHEZ LE GÉNÉRAL FLEURY
Le général Fleury, grand écuyer de l’Empereur, a donné un bal travesti d’enfants mardi dernier dans ses salons.
Les honneurs de la soirée ont été faits par Mme Fleury avec sa grâce habituelle et la gaité la plus franche n’a cessé de régner parmi les jeunes invités.
Les intermèdes ont été remplis par la petite Benoiton, Berthelier et Mlle Zulma Bouffar.
Pas de coup d’œil plus charmant que l’aspect de cette foule d’enfants revêtus des plus gracieux costumes. Maurice et Adrien Fleury, les fils du général, faisaient les honneirs du salon paternel avec beaucoup de bonne grâce et d’entrain. Ils étaient costumés en chevau-légers. Mlle de Verdières avait revêtu un charmant uniforme de cantinière des guides; Mlle Hélènè de Conégliano était en hongroise; Mlle de Metternich, en fantaisie; Mlles Bartholony, en neige.
M. Foulques de Pracontal se dandinait dans un habit d’incroyable. M. Alfred Haentjens avait une crâne allure sous l’uniforme d’officier des gardes françaises et conduisait à son bras, avec une désinvolture toute militaire, sa soeur Mlle Louise Haentjens, gracieuse et mignonne en permission de dix heures.
Nous voudrions pouvoir donner les noms les costumes de tous les jeunes invités, mais cela nous est impossible, faute de pouvoir nous les rappeler tous. Nous citerons pourtant encore Mlle Beyens, en étoile; Mlle. Janvier, en Diane chasseresse, qui a fait son entrée avec un magnifique lévrier noir aussi grand qu’elle; le jeune de Bourgoing, en hussard de la mort; le jeune de Lasalle, en pêcheur, et Mlle Vandal, en lettre, conduite par son frère en facteur.
Le facteur distribuait de jolis almanachs composés pour la circonstance et ornés des portrait du Prince Impérial; la petite lettre émaillée de timbres-poste et de cachets était coiffée d’une enveloppe.
À minuit, un galop final entrainait les danseurs, et on a vu défiler, côte à côte, le Loup et le Chaperon-Rouge, les Hussards de Berchini, les Cantinières, les Candiotes, les Abbès galants et les Brigands des Abruzzes.
Cette soirée laissera de vifs souvenirs chez tous les jeunes invités.
Maxime Vauvert.
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THE CHILDREN'S BALL AT GENERAL FLEURY'S
General Fleury, grand equerry to the Emperor, gave a children's fancy dress ball last Tuesday in his salons.
The honors of the evening were done by Mme. Fleury with her habitual grace, and the most frank gaiety never ceased to reign among the young guests.
The interludes were filled by the little Benoiton, Berthelier and Mlle. Zulma Bouffar.
There is no sight more charming than the view of this crowd of children dressed in the most graceful costumes. Maurice and Adrien Fleury, the general's sons, did the honors of the paternal salon with much good grace and enthusiasm. They were dressed as light cavalrymen. Mademoiselle de Verdieres had put on the charming uniform of a cantinière; Mlle. Hélènè de Conégliano was in Hungarian; Mlle. de Metternich, in fantasia; the Mlles. Bartholony, in snow.
M. Foulques de Pracontal waddled about in the costume of an Incroyable. M. Alfred Haentjens looked handsome in the uniform of an officer of the French guards and led on his arm, with a quite military casualness, his sister Mlle. Louise Haentjens, graceful and cute on ten o'clock leave.
We would like to be able to name the costumes of all the young guests, but that is impossible for us, for lack of the ability to remember them all. We will, however, still cite Mlle. Beyens, as a star; Mlle. Janvier, as Diana the Huntress, who made her entrance with a magnificent black greyhound as tall as she was; young de Bourgoing, as a Death Hussar; young Lasalle, as a fisherman, and Mlle. Vandal, as a letter, escorted by her brother as a postman.
The postman distributed pretty almanacs composed for the occasion and adorned with portraits of the Prince Imperial; the little letter, adorned with postage stamps and cachets, was topped with an envelope.
At midnight, a final gallop carried the dancers away, and we saw parading by, side by side, the Wolf and the Red Riding Hood, the Berchini Hussars, the Cantinières, the Candiotes, the gallant Abbots and the Brigands of Abruzzo.
This evening will leave vivid memories for all the young guests.
Maxime Vauvert.
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