Couture Edition · Julia
| Product: | Julia |
| Description: | Couture Edition, limited edition of 25 |
| Design: | Franz Anton Bustelli, 1759/60 |
| Decor: | Christian Lacroix, 2008 |
| Height: | 21 cm |
| Item number: | 18.961 |
“For as long as I can remember, these figures have always drawn my eye whenever I’ve seen them in museums or in photos in books. They are the living representatives and witnesses of an age that they subtly and accurately reflect in their costumes, which were much more daring than those of today.”
– Christian Lacroix
Christian Lacroix was delighted by the invitation to “dress” one of the Commedia dell’Arte figures in a new “outfit.” Lacroix’s choice fell on Bustelli’s Julia – an elegant and refined, high-ranking lady dressed in a fine, full-length hunting outfit. Christian Lacroix “chose this figurine primarily for its very simple, vivid and complete pose, as it thus presents the best foundation for the decoration.” He took as the basis for his design an ornamental pattern derived from the embroidery on the traje de luces (suit of lights) worn by toreros in bullfights – a recurrent motif in his work, and one that crops up in his earliest couture collections. The uniformity emphasised by the identical decoration of skirt and jacket is also a reminder of the proud, upright bearing of toreros.
Lacroix accentuates the opulence and preciosity of the aristocratic outfit by using platinum and high-gloss black. The mouche or beauty spot and made-up face are a direct echo of the Rococo Age. Only the sulphurous yellow gloves and pink shoes dispel the appearance of courtly elegance and firmly shift the quasi-Rococo look into the modern era. The fuchsia and red tones of the choker and the shoes recall the typical colours of the capote, the cape used by bullfighters to distract the bull.
Because of the different firing temperatures for the various colour tones and the platinum, painting the figurines made exceptionally high demands on the precision of the master painters. Only after the platinum areas had been applied and fired could the unpainted spaces be filled with black. The bright pink and red tones were the last to be added. As with other designs in the Couture Edition, the painting of Lacroix’s design is among the most complex jobs ever undertaken at the manufactory.
Individual figures are only available with Limit No. 16 – 25. It is not possible to order specific numbers. The figures will be supplied with a certificate in a gift box specially designed for the collection.