Exposition de Turin 1911 Moines-pressurage 1710 Moët et Chandon

Catalog Level
Items (Cataloging Focus)

Title Proper/Title Text
Exposition de Turin 1911 Moines-pressurage 1710 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 published for the Champagne house Moët & Chandon. It shows a staged historical tableau of grape pressing as it was done in 1710. The figures are almost certainly wax or mannequin figures in a diorama, not live people. The display reconstructs an early-18th-century Champagne press house.

A massive timber press fills the left side, built from stacked squared beams. A heavy wooden block in the foreground has “1710” carved into it, fixing the scene's date. A barefoot man climbs a plank onto the press with a tall wooden back-basket (hotte) of grapes strapped to him. Behind the press, a large spoked wheel works as a winch, with a rope running from it toward the mechanism. Another worker in waistcoat and breeches bends to handle it, and a second figure stands near the wheel at the back. Four Benedictine-style monks in dark habits supervise. One holds a paper, perhaps a tally or record. A heavier, older seated monk inspects a bunch of grapes held near his face, a pose of tasting or judging. That figure likely evokes Dom Pérignon, the cellarer of the Abbey of Hautvillers, whom Moët long used as a founding legend; the abbey and its vineyards belonged to the house. A hooded monk at right carries a basket of grapes.Wicker harvest baskets, some full and some tipped over, are scattered across the floor. A large banded wooden tub sits beneath the press to catch the juice. At the far right edge, a crate or cask with partial lettering is visible.

The diorama sits in an architectural set with arched, carriage-style wooden doors and pilasters. Above it runs a painted panoramic frieze of vineyards: rows of vines on staked slopes, a road, and harvest baskets set out in the field. The frieze ties the pressing scene to the Champagne landscape.

 

 

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

Current Repository Numbers
CDC-PC-MOCP-0006