1905 Claude Gelee Statue Nancy France Vintage Postcard

About This Vintage Postcard

This elegant antique postcard captures a serene afternoon at the Pepiniere Park (Parc de la Pépinière) in Nancy, France. This card showcases the monumental bronze statue of the celebrated Baroque painter Claude Gelée, also known as "Le Lorrain," set amidst the park's lush gardens and mature trees. The scene is alive with the social charm of the early 1900s, featuring visitors in period attire relaxing on classic metal park chairs, children playing, and a vintage baby carriage. This view perfectly preserves the peaceful high-society atmosphere of this historic park as it appeared over a century ago.

Details

Era: Divided Back (Circa 1905–1910)
City: Nancy
State or Region: Meurthe-et-Moselle, Lorraine
Country: France
Topic: public parks, historic monuments, Belle Epoque social life, French garden design, leisure activities
Condition: Uncirculated
Postage: Unused
Address Side: Divided back
Orientation: Horizontal (Landscape)
Artist / Photographer: Imprimeries Réunies de Nancy
Publisher: Imprimeries Réunies de Nancy
Printer: Imprimeries Réunies de Nancy
Print Type: Collotype, Phototype

Additional Information

This card was produced by the "Imprimeries Réunies de Nancy," a firm that was at the heart of the city's artistic and industrial boom during the early 1900s. The statue of Claude Gelée, a local hero born in the Duchy of Lorraine, was created by the legendary sculptor Auguste Rodin and inaugurated in 1892. The reverse side features an early divided back layout with a printed "M" in the address section, a placeholder for the recipient's title. This card can be narrowed to the 1905–1910 period, as the bilingual French and English captions on the front were specifically designed to cater to the influx of international tourists visiting Nancy for the 1909 International Exhibition of the East of France.

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