Category: role portrait, Rollenporträt, characterization

Roshanara in Berlin ca. 1910

Charles Trampus ~ La Roshanowa, célèbre danseuse Hindoue (sic), Berlin, vers 1910. © Ch. Trampus (caption on verso) | src eBay

Ervína Kupferová, 1922

František Drtikol :: The dancer Ervína Kupferová in The Fire Drum, 1922. “The Fire Drum” has an extravagant subtitle “African drama full of fire, color, rumble, fragrance.” Its author was the no less extravagant Italian writer Filippo Tommaso Marinetti. For its time it was an ultra modern production, the sets were designed by Italian artist Enrico Prampolini. Although the photographer is not identified, its author was most likely František Drtikol (Kupferová’s husband). | src Prague National Theatre

Musidora dans «Les Vampires»

Photographie publicitaire de Musidora revêtue de son collant noir devenu iconique grâce à son rôle d’Irma Vep dans le film Les Vampires de Louis Feuillade. Tirage argentique postérieur, circa 1915-16 | src Artprecium: 400 photographies de cinema por tous 8e edition / lot 6: les vampires
Musidora dans «Les Vampires», 1916, France. Series: Portrait de Stars. French collectors card. L’encyclopédie du Cinéma’. Collection Cinémathèque Française. | src eBay
Musidora wearing the iconic black silk maillot, in her role as Irma Vep in Les Vampires by Louis Feuillade, circa 1915. Vintage card. | src IMdB

The image above was probably a (role) portrait by Henri Manuel. The image credit is illegible but the typography used is the same as in other images of Musidora by Atelier Henri Manuel [Photo Manuel].

Musidora in Les Vampires [An intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.] Louis Feuillade, 1915. | src Virtual History
Musidora in Les Vampires [An intrepid reporter and his loyal friend battle a bizarre secret society of criminals known as The Vampires.] Louis Feuillade, 1915. | src Virtual History

La danseuse Houka Kovàcs, 1930

Atelier Manassé :: La danseuse Houka Kovàcs. Paris-plaisirs revue mensuelle esthétique et humoristique, nº 97, Juillet 1930. | src BnF
Atelier Manassé :: La danseuse Houka Kovàcs. Paris-plaisirs revue mensuelle esthétique et humoristique, nº 97, Juillet 1930. | src BnF
Atelier Manassé :: La danseuse Houka Kovàcs. Paris-plaisirs revue mensuelle esthétique et humoristique, nº 97, Juillet 1930. | src BnF

Musidora in «Les vampires»

Musidora in «Les vampires», 1915-16. Film stills captured from Musidora – Bande annonce (short video). «Rendez-nous Musidora» at La Cinématèque Française
Musidora in «Les vampires», 1915-16. Film stills captured from Musidora – Bande annonce (short video). «Rendez-nous Musidora» at La Cinématèque Française

Maud Allan as Salomé, 1907

Foulsham & Banfield :: Maud Allan as “Salome” dancing during a performance at the Varietes, Paris, 1907. Postcard print, published by Rotary Photographic Co. Ltd. | src Fine Art America

Who is Musidora?

Photographie publicitaire de Musidora revêtue de son collant noir devenu iconique grâce au film Les Vampires de Louis Feuillade, ca. 1915 | Musidora, qui êtes-vous?
Who is Souricette? Musidora with her dog, Lacsalé. French cigarette card by Cigarettes Le Nil, nº 38. Photo by Henri Manuel | src flickr

In this cigarette card […] she is dressed in her famous costume from Les vampires. It’s a typical outfit worn by the thieves operating in hotels. […] In French, those thieves are called ‘souris d’hôtel’. ‘Souricette’ being a kind of diminutive form of ‘souris’, maybe that’s where the publishers got their idea.” Quoted from Flickr