Monday, December 16, 2013

Francoise-Thérèse de Choiseul-Stainville - Version 1


Francoise-Thérèse, the Princesse de Monaco, was born a Frenchwoman in 1767. She had the misfortune of being in the country during the Reign of Terror of the French Revolution, and was arrested and promptly condemned to death in 1794.

While awaiting execution she falsely declared herself to be pregnant in order to secure a short reprieve. During this time she cut her own hair and sent the locks along with a letter to her two young daughters. She then announced to her jailers that she was in fact not with child, but had lied in order to arrange for the only legacy she had left for her children (her hair) to be untouched by the executioner.

She was beheaded the following day along with forty-six others on 9 Thermidor, which was the day before Robespierre's Tribunal was overthrown. She was among the last group of people to be sent to the guillotine during the Reign of Terror.


ABOUT THE DOLL

Francoise-Thérèse is a reworked vinyl doll that stands approx. 12" tall and is dressed in a pink silk gown trimmed with creamy white lace. Her underskirt is a light blue fabric with playful floral patterns embellished with hand-sewn faux pearls. A soft wire frame under her skirt helps the dress hold its shape and can be bent to suit any pose. More strung acrylic pearls are draped around her waist and on her head. She wears a gold and pearl trimmed shawl around her shoulders.

The Princesse carries her cloudy-eyed severed head in her right hand. The neck stump and above the shoulders are both neatly cut to resemble the wound inflicted by the guillotine. Blood, spinal column bone, and muscle tissue is visible from both wounds.

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