Exposition de Turin 1911 Dom Pérignon Moët et Chandon

Catalog Level
Items (Cataloging Focus)

Title Proper/Title Text
Exposition de Turin 1911 Dom Pérignon Moët et Chandon

Date of Publication/Creation Date
1911 ca.

Dimensions Description
14 x 9 cm.

Inscription Language
Italian (Language), French (Language)

Descriptive Note Text

This is a promotional postcard commissioned by the Champagne house Moët & Chandon. The scene is a monastery interior with six Benedictine monks in dark hooded habits gathered around the grape harvest. At center right, an elderly monk sits in a tall wooden chair, holding a small cluster of grapes and raising one to his lips. His eyes are nearly closed, and his expression is contemplative. This is Dom Pérignon. To his left, a younger monk sits at a table with grape clusters on it, writing and looking up attentively as if recording the verdict. Three other monks stand or sit around the table and look on. One of them, seen from behind in a carved chair at far left, faces away from the viewer. At far right, a monk carrying a basket of grapes on each arm enters the room. More baskets of grapes sit on the tiled floor in the foreground. A framed devotional painting hangs on the wall behind them, and an arched window opens at the upper right.

The caption repeats two well-known legends. One is that Dom Pérignon “invented” Champagne, and the other is that he was blind. Historians generally treat both as myths. He was an important early figure in blending and quality control at Hautvillers, but sparkling Champagne developed gradually and through many hands. Moët & Chandon, which later owned the Hautvillers abbey site, did a great deal to promote the Dom Pérignon legend in the 19th century, and this card is a good example of that marketing in circulation.

Current Repository/Geographic Location
Cristina Della Coletta Private Collection (San Diego, USA)

Current Repository Numbers
CDC-PC-MOCP-0007