Photograph of Josesphine Baker at the Battle of Versailles Fashion Show: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Black-and-white photograph of Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, an unidentified man, and Josephine Baker at the rehearsals for Battle of Versailles Fashion Show. Captured from the chest up, Baker, on the right, stares directly at the camera. She wears a sequined and crystal-studded bodysuit with a feather headdress. Large hoops earrings are attached to the side of the headdress with a large, tear-drop shaped metal headpiece with a dangling smaller metal piece. To Baker’s proper right, at the center, is an unidentified man looking at Baker. He is wearing a plaid-pattered jacket with a bowtie. To his proper right, and to the very left, is de Rothschild. She is also looking at Baker and is wearing a long-sleeve shirt with a few necklaces. On the back of the photograph is a copyright notice by the photographer Bill Cunningham.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: November 1973
• Photograph by: Bill Cunningham, American, 1929 - 2016
• Subject of: Josephine Baker, American, 1906 - 1975
• Subject of: Marie-Hélène de Rothschild, French, 1927 - 1996
• Subject of: Unidentified Man or Men
• Type: gelatin silver prints
• Medium: silver and photographic gelatin on photographic paper
• Dimensions: H x W: 8 × 10 in. (20.3 × 25.4 cm)
• Place captured: Versailles, Île-de-France, France, Europe
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Entertainers
• Topic: Fashion
• Topic: Photography
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2024.85.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Estate of Bill Cunningham Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.