Velvet Hat Worn By Lana Marconi In "the Lame Devil" By Sacha Guitry

Elegant red velvet hat, trimmed with mink, and lined with white silk, made by the house Le Monnier Place Vendôme and rue Saint Honoré. The provenance of this object is unusual: A young man, in the early 60s, a neighbor of rue Elysee Reclus, noticed that many objects were being thrown into the bulky waste from a private mansion which was none other than that of Sacha Guitry. It was Lana Marconi, who, following his death, having sold the collections and the house, got rid of what was not valuable at the time. This clairvoyant young man, conscious of the value of memories of this immense artist, collected what he could, and kept them until, when he was old enough, they were dispersed again. Having had access to the person who cleared out this collection, I could not resist buying what I could. Le Diable boiteux is a play, then a famous film, which marks in 1948, Guitry's return to the stage, following a painful and useless proscription, at the liberation. In a disturbing parallel, he puts himself on stage, in the role of the most hated man, but also probably the most effective of Napoleon's reign, Talleyrand. A masked ball is given in Valencay, Sacha is disguised as Christopher Columbus (we present the hat of this outfit), and Lana Marconi plays Madame Grand, his wife. During this ball, she is dressed in a sumptuous renaissance dress, harnessed with precious stones. The Toque presented here, is then also covered with theater jewels. But unlike Sacha's hat, it is not a theater accessory made by the workshop but a precious bibi made in Place Vendôme. We recognize the delicacy of the master. From Lana Marconi, observing her haughty bearing, and her speed in liquidating the succession, one suspects that she must not have shown overflowing sentimentality. Coldness illustrated by Sacha's very lucid words to her: "those beautiful hands, which will close my eyes, and open my drawers...."
A hhat created by Le Monnier is Kept by the Met , New-York.