Posted 3 months ago
keramikos
(37 items)
Or perhaps more precisely, another sighting of a piece of the Baltic Neoclassical furniture set that came into Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer's possession some time in the 1930s, and ultimately was sold in the 1970 MGM auction.
Technically, this is the earliest sighting I've found. It's in a film short released in March 1938.
The film is "The Face Behind the Mask," and it's about the man not merely imprisoned by French king Louis XIV, but masked in iron to conceal his identity.
The appearance of the "Gigi" couch in this film short would be an anachronism, because the general style of the couch is Louis XVI, not Louis XIV.
Yes, it's a fairly craptastic screen grab. Further, I believe that the reason the design in the center of the motif on the right-hand side of the couch back doesn't mirror the one on the left-hand side is that it's occluded by a throw pillow, similar to the way it is in the set picture of the couch and one of the chairs from "Marie Antoinette" (1938).
"Marie Antoinette" was also released in 1938 (August); however, that furniture set never made it into any scenes in the finished film.
IMAGE CREDITS:
TCM:
SCREEN GRAB OF "MGM PARADE S1.E5 (1955)
IMDB:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030418/mediaviewer/rm1258060288/
GENERAL CREDITS:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0196545/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0030418/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1426598/
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/324898-curiouser-and-curiouser-said-alice
I was researching a lot of pics last week on that incredible auction. The other one was Debbie Reynolds auction although she did not seem to have that collection of furniture. This furniture set was outstanding and so impeccable as a lot of their sets were !~
PhilDMorris:
"This furniture set was outstanding and so impeccable as a lot of their sets were !~"
Thanks, but over the course of researching this set, I've come to realize that, like humans, props can photograph a lot better than they look in real life:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/324898-curiouser-and-curiouser-said-alice
Apart from the surprising description of "Baltic Neoclassical," one of those chairs looks like it had been rode hard, and put away wet.
I wish I had asked more questions of the one-time CW user who re-energized me somewhat to start researching again by commenting that they'd purchased the couch and two of the chairs in an auction. They did say that MGM bought the set in 1932 for the filming of 1938's "Marie Antoinette."
That might seem like a long time span (1932 - 1938); however, the filming of "Marie Antoinette" was beset by any number of problems that caused delays:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marie_Antoinette_(1938_film)
MGM was powerful enough to play the long game, especially on a historical costume film (unlike films set in contemporary times, which studios tried to get out as quickly as possible, so that the fashions seen therein wouldn't have fallen out of style).
I have to confess that I'm no longer as enamored of this furniture set as I was before discovering the "Baltic Neoclassical" pieces, and their relatively sad condition, however, habits are hard to break, and I noticed the couch in that old 1938 film short almost as a reflex. };-)
Here are links to my other "Gigi "furniture set posts:
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/326607-a-sighting-of-pieces-of-the-gigi-furni
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/324898-curiouser-and-curiouser-said-alice
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/324883-more-sightings-of-the-mgm-louis-xvi-gig
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/321058-madame-bovary-1949-and-the-gigi-fu
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/319249-mgm-gigi-furniture-pieces-in-1956s-t
https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/319228-mgm-giltwood-louis-xvi-style-furniture-s
So, you've been looking at the 1970 MGM auction, as well as Debbie Reynold's one, huh?
Out of the corner of my eye, I seem to recall reading some commentary that Reynolds did own this set at one time, but sold it. It seems possible that she did own it, but sold it in advance of her own big auction.