Friday, November 7, 2014

A photo of Nattova and her vase

NATTOVA
The enormous flower pot

A while back, I came across the above photo on eBay. The only information I could find was this:
Folies Bergère, Waléry, 1928 Paramount, vintage silver print, "Fleurs..." Melle Nattova et Melle Dambreval
Tirage argentique d'époque
18x24
Circa 1928
Suzanne Dambreval
Presumably, it is a photograph, by Waléry, of a show at the Folies Bergère. Nattova is said to have danced with/at the FB. The photo also mentions "Melle Nattova et Melle Dambreval." I only see one dancer here, and I don't know if that dancer is Nattova or Dambreval.

THEN: today, I came across some intriguing photos of shows by Fanchon and Marco (the LA family firm). As we've seen, Natacha Nattova toured with F&M acts. Some of these shows seem to connect Nattova with the Folies Bergère. 
   
Here's the most interesting photo:


(Detail)
No information comes with this photo, beyond its being included among "Fanchon and Marco" photos and its being provided courtesy the Huntington Library.

This vase and the one from the Folies Bergère photo are very similar. The four-pedal flower at the top seem very similar in the two photos, as do other "flower" elements. 

So I figure we're looking at Nattova, probably in 1932. I guess she managed to bring this enormous vase prop back from Paris (or perhaps she had a new one created).

Here are some other intriguing photos from the same Huntington Library/F&M collection:

Nattova, explaining her "machine age" show, once said that she represents electricity




     I have found references to a Suzanne Dambreval who seemed active in the 20s and early 30s: 

Sheet music
April 1931, L'Express du Midi
L'Impartial, Dec 1925
L'Impartial, January 1926
May 1926, Fueille d'Avis de Neuchatel

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