Title
MARTINIQUE - Type et Costume Créole, ca. 1910. Creator: Cochet.
Caption
The title of this French colonial postcard (GUADELOUPE. - Type n° 7) exemplifies the standard naming structure that categorized “exotic” native subjects in the form of ethnic and occupational “types.” Presenting the image subjects in this way conveyed the perception of them as “tame” colonial subjects capable of assimilation into European ways of life. The colonial postcard, popular in the first two decades of the 20th century, came to represent both the technological triumphs of western photography – in printing and mass production – and the political triumphs of European conquest and expansion. These postcards also promoted tourism to the French Caribbean, painting the region as a safe, favorable, and exotic travel destination.The woman in this image wears a traditional, five-piece French Caribbean formal ensemble called a douillette, which is derived from the grand robe worn by early French settlers. Prior to Emancipation, dress codes required enslaved women to wear a chemise jupe, an informal bodice and skirt ensemble. Douillettes would have been worn by mulattas and free black women.
Credit line
Photo12/Heritage Images/Heritage Art
Reference
HRM21A74_078
Model release
NA
Property release
NA
License type
Rights managed
Available size
117,2Mb (4,6Mb) / 17,5in x 26,0in / 5254 x 7797 (300dpi)