Invitation phote
November Newsletter 2008
In This Issue
Symbols of Grace: The swan and the butterfly
Portrait of the Month: Pauline Borghese
Tag Line Contest
Join Our Mailing List
Greetings!
 
As the holiday season draws near and decorating our homes becomes de rigueur, the ornaments we display reveal much about our sensibility and personality.  The Empress Josephine is renowned for her aesthetic sense, and the environments she created wherever she lived - and whatever her means at the moment - were invariably inviting, elegant, and refined.  She set her table with exquisite porcelain from Sevres, draped her Alix with tulipsbeautiful Kashmir shawls over furnishings, filled gleaming silver vases with her beloved roses. 
 
This issue's feature article is on two symbols that figured prominently in the arts of the Empire, and were used frequently in decoration.  It is illustrated with two remarkable objects, one of which is said to have been intimately connected to Napoleon's beautiful and notorious sister, Pauline, our portrait of the month.    
 
As promised, we are listing the entries received to our tag line contest.  We are getting very close, though we do not think we are there yet, so we are extending our deadline to the end of the year, and will raffle the $100 gift certificate among all those who submitted entries, just in time to help with your holiday shopping!  
      
When you plan your holiday shopping, consider our jamawar scarves from India, perfect for every woman, man and child on your list at only $25 each.  See picture below.

Once again, thank you for subscribing to our newsletter.  Please forward to any friends who might enjoy reading it.  And do take a moment to visit our website, www.swanways.com, and to send us your suggestions on products, articles, and any other ways in which Swan Ways can contribute to your quality of life.  It is our mission and goal.   
 
With warmest regards, 
 

                    Alix Sundquist
 
 
 




Symbols of Grace:  The Swan and the Butterfly 
 
Napoleon had a keen interest in the decorative arts and was deeply involved in the selection of motifs for the Empire.  The most familiar motifs associated with his reign are, not surprisingly, symbols of power associated with military themes, glory, and royal origins.  Napoleon's coronation on 2 December 1804 was a key moment in the adoption of the eagle and the bee as the main symbols of the First Empire. Other well-known Empire symbols include the laurel wreath, the crown, and Napoleon's monogram.  
 
More gentle and sensual motifs were also prominent during the Empire, however. The swan, a favorite symbol of the Empress Josephine, took inspiration from the myths concerning love and the gods of antiquity. The story of Leda, loved by Zeus who Pauline's breast cuptook the form of a swan in seducing her, is considered the main basis for its adoption as a symbol by the Empress.  This most elegant of creatures, which can both fly and swim and mates for life, is the perfect symbol of feminine seduction, with its beautiful long neck and regal deportment.  
 
Image:  Fruit or flower basket from S�vres attributed to Louis-Martin Berthault (active 1785-1823), original design may have been submitted to Empress Jos�phine for a new dessert service.  

Another allegorical figure very present under the Empire was the butterfly.  The Greek word for butterfly, psyche, also means "soul," and is undoubtedly this twin meaning that imbues the butterfly with such rich symbolism.  The butterfly was a frequent motif in Empire arts and decorations, including Pauline's breast cuppaintings, porcelain, wallpaper, clocks, and lighting sconces and candelabras.  Often associated with the unpredictable aspects of a woman's soul - impulsiveness, frivolity, inconstancy - the butterfly also has deeper meanings. It's presence in clocks, for example, suggest the fragile victory of love over time and death, while butterflies in candelabras are associated with the moth's attraction to light.  
 
Image:  Cup in the shape of a woman's breast. Jean-Baptiste-Claude Odiot took a mold from the breast of Pauline Borguese for this cup, with a butterfly delicately posed on the rim.   

Portrait of the Month - Pauline Borghese
 
Renowned for her beauty and libidinousness, Pauline Bonaparte was Napoleon's  youngest and favorite sister, and the only one among his siblings to show him unswerving loyalty to the end.

Called "a veritable masterpiece of creation," she attracted universal attention for her wonderful eyes, her perfect body, her great charm, and her utter lack of sexual restraint.  Pauline's numerous love affairs embarrassed her brother and, when he caught her having sex with one of his generals, Charles Leclerc, he had them married.  Napoleon made Leclerc commander-in-chief of the French expedition to Saint-Domingue (now Haiti), and ordered Pauline to accompany her husband.  After two years, they both fell ill, and he died of yellow fever in 1802.  The expedition was abandoned, and Pauline brought Leclerc's body back to France, where she cut off her beautiful hair to bury with him in an ornate coffin. 
 
Napoleon later had Pauline married to a member of a wealthy Roman family, Camillo Borghese.  Pauline added to his splendid art collection by posing nude for a sculpture by Antonio Canova, a neo-classical masterpiece.  It shows Pauline at the peak of her beauty, and the fact the model was the Emperor's sister greatly added to its interest.  Although passionately in love when they married, Pauline's infidelities and eccentricities soon desilusioned Camillo and the couple led  separate lives until a brief reconciliation before her death.   
 
pauline by canova
 
During Napoleon's first exile at Elba, Pauline and his mother were the only ones in his family who visited him.  With a generosity that few could have expected of her, she gave to her brother a great part of her fortune. When he returned from Elba and fought the campaign of 1815 she presented him with all the Borghese diamonds. After Waterloo and his exile to St. Helena, she was ill in bed and could not accompany him, though she again tried to help him financially.  She wept bitter tears when she learned of his death, and followed him four years later.  She died in 1825 at the age of 44, after asking for a mirror and pronouncing, with a satisfied smile:  "I am not afraid to die, I am still beautiful!"
 
 
 
 
A scarf for everyone in your holiday list
 
Warm as toast and each one different, this scarf will delight everyone for many a winter.  Limited quantities, so hurry up and place your order now.   
 
 
jamawar scarves
 
 
Made in India, 100% wool, 14"X64," excluding the hand-twisted fringe. $25 each.  Shipping and handling are free. 
 
e-mail [email protected] or call 703-969-1688.
American Express cards are welcome.
 
 
Tag Line Contest
:
Entries to be entered in raffle for a $100 Swan Ways' gift certificate
 
Our contest elicited some lovely suggestions for a tag line that connotes Swan Ways' aim to offer high-quality products that appeal to those who value sophisticated styles with timeless fashion appeal and functionality.  We list below the entries received and invite you to submit additional proposals by November 30.  We will enter them in a raffle and contact you with the result, as well as publish the winner in our Holiday Newsletter.  
 

These are mine and do not qualify for the raffle: 

  • For every age, for every season
  • Timeless grace with a touch of royalty
  • The style of an empress, the grace of a swan
  • Comfort and grace, without compare 
  • Timeless grace for all the ages  

These are the entries so far:

  • For the Muse in you
  • For the Empress in you
  • Enchanting Recollections
  • Elegant, alluring, timeless...the essence of a swan
  • For the Empress in all of Us
  • Timeless Elegance for Today
  • Timeless + Today
  • Make a Style Statement
  • Enviable Style.  Timeless Elegance
  • Enviable. Elegant. Effortless
  • Effortless Elegance. Timeless Grace
  • Regal Elegance. Timeless Grace
  • Incomparably Chic. Irresistibly Elegant
  • Essential elegance 
      


 
articlewritingInvitation to contribute to the newsletter
 
We welcome your thoughts on articles or questions you would like to see addressed in the newsletter.  If you write an article and it is selected for publication, we will post it with your byline and picture and we will send you a $25.00 certificate valid on any purchase of Swan Ways' collection.
 
We look forward to hearing from you! 



Alix Sundquist
Swan Ways