Lot 59: Jean Henri Roust (French, b.1795)

Mlle Bombier, the French actress, wearing men's clothing, her black jacket with puffed sleeves, white shirt and waistcoat and fawn-coloured trousers, seated in an interior, her arm resting on an open book of Voltaire's Zaïre, a landscape beyond the open window
signed and dated in gold on obverse, Par H. Roust 1829, gilt-mounted veneered wood frame, the reverse with printed label with sitter's and artist's details
Oval, 105mm. (4 1/8ins.) high

Mademoiselle Bombier was an actress of the Théâtre Français who specialised in male leads. Shown here in male attire, rather than in costume, she even has a false pencilled moustache. Although actors and actresses are often portrayed in miniatures (in fact, some miniaturists, such as Henry Collen and Samuel John Stump almost specialised in commissions from the theatrical profession), few female actresses at this date would opt to be painted in male costume.
The one place where women could cross-dress without fear of reprisal was on the stage. Several French and English actresses rose to prominence playing male roles and were openly adored by male and female fans alike. One such actress, Mlle. de Maupin, was arrested and sentenced to death for seducing a girl, but was so popular with the public that her sentence was overturned and she continued her cross-dressing lifestyle unharrassed. At a time when respectable women hid their figures under heavy clothing in order not to arouse men's sexual desires, the fact that actresses could act men's roles in male costumes was one of the most surprising aspects of their profession, and certainly one of the most shocking for their contemporaries.
In the present lot, Mlle Bombier rests her arm on a copy of Voltaire's tragedy Zaïre, which had first been performed in 1732. The inclusion of the book denotes Bombier's profession and was perhaps the play she was performing in at the time. Voltaire's play is also perhaps a fitting choice for Bombier, as it opens with a declaration of the relativity of morals. As an open 'cross-dresser', Bombier may have been drawn to Voltaire's hatred of intolerance in society.