Alexis FAY. The indiscreet woman with binoculars, circa 1855 - Lot 44

Alexis FAY. The indiscreet woman with binoculars, circa 1855. Stereoscopic daguerreotype finely enhanced in color, produced on 1/3 or 2/6 plate, 8.7 x 17 cm. According to François Boisjoly, Alexis Fay practiced at the Palais-Royal between 1855 and 1881, at the address indicated on the label on the reverse of this daguerreotype. The model's attitude is very similar to the image reproduced on the frontispiece and title page of Denis Pellerin, Le Nu stéréoscopique, les modèles et leur histoire, BEA + Polyverlags AG, 2020. This model, who looks at us through binoculars and hides her face at the same time, is an evocation of Second Empire theater mores, where cocottes, women of the world and demi-mondaines spent most of their time spying on each other, in outfits that rivaled those of the theatrical girls on stage in indecency. Provenance: Uwe Scheid Collection. Bibliography: Rainer Wick, Sammlung Uwe Scheid, Die Erotische daguerréotypie, Weingarten, 1989, page 21. François Boisjoly, Répertoire des photographes parisiens du xixe siècle, 2009, page 120.