Henriette Delong - Accomplished Artist and Inventor:
Designer, Goldsmith, Silversmith, and Originator of a New Art Industry
by
Theresa Franks, for Fine Art Registry®
In a continuing series on obscure, unknown, and forgotten female artists, we offer the following story or sketch on a remarkable French woman whose artistic ability was more than exceptional in her day. The year was 1882 - Paris, France.
At the age of 14, Henrietta Delong was a master goldsmith and silversmith, and later an inventor of machinery and fine metal working tools as well as a brilliant design architect. Henriette Delong lived and worked in France and rivaled her male contemporaries, who respected and adored her. She fought against terrible odds both domestically and professionally and at a time when women were considered little more than chattel with no civil rights to speak of; at a time when it was thought that the female could be of little use, except to keep the home fires burning and to attend to the needs of her husband and children. In the 19th century, it was a sacrilege to consider females as a potential force in business - an empire reserved for men only.
To provide a glimpse into female life in the late 19th century (not so long ago really), below are a couple of quotes from two real life stories published in 1882, from England and America respectively. Note that these pieces were published in the year that the article profiling Henriette Delong was published. It is incredible to think that not so long ago, a wife and her money were considered possessions of her husband; that a husband was actually permitted to beat and brutalize his wife and appropriate the earnings of his wife; to do with the funds as he pleased - including his wife's earnings from visual art and literary works as set forth below:
ENGLAND
"Justice to Women: The English Parliament at its last session passed a Married Woman's Property Bill, which puts English wives on an equality with their most favored sisters in other countries. England was famous in past times for the cruelty of its law respecting married women. The wife and her property were, under the common law, a part of the husband's possessions. The latter could do anything with the money which belonged originally to the wife. A very recent case is that of Mrs. Hamilton Dunbar Tennent, a Scotch lady, who at the time of her marriage had an unencumbered income of $20,000 per annum. Of this she spent less than $8,000, using the rest of her income to advance religious and charitable objects. She appealed to the courts to protect her property from her husband, who was squandering in all manner of sinful indulgences; but she had no redress at law. When she married without a settlement, her property became her husband's to do with it as he pleased.
Another scandalous case was that of Viscount Combermere, whose wife had settled upon him $110,000 a year [an ENORMOUS fortune for the times]. The noble sneak and rascal eloped with a Mrs. Poole, and lavished upon her the income derived from his wife's estates, and there was no legal redress.
It may be remembered that Mrs. [Caroline] Norton [an Irish Writer and Campaigner for Women's Legal Rights], the novelist and poet, had a husband, who was mean enough to confiscate the money she had received for her literary work. Happily this wickedness has been ended forever. A woman's property is hereafter to be her own, single or married, but of course she can be sued and forced to maintain her children, and even her husband if he cannot take care of himself; in sort, she has now the same rights and responsibilities as the man, in addition to the pains and risks and responsibilities of motherhood, which are peculiarly her own. Norton, Caroline (1808-77). Author and reformer.
Caroline married the Hon. George Norton at the age of 19 in 1827. George was a surly, mean and nasty bully, who brought an action in 1836 for criminal conduct (adultery) against Lord Melbourne, then prime minister, which was laughed out of court and formed the basis for Dickens's Bardell v. Pickwick. Norton continued his brutality, preventing Caroline access to her children and tried to seize her literary earnings. In her defense, Caroline Norton published, claiming the rights of mothers to custody and of wives to independent property. The Custody of Infants Act of 1839 gave the courts discretion to award custody of children up to the age of seven to their mothers. The right of wives to independent property was introduced by successive Married Women's Property Acts in 1870, 1882, and 1893. Though Mrs. Norton's literary reputation has faded, her position as a pioneer of women's rights is secure."
Here is another report from the same year.
NEW YORK AND OHIO
"The Rights of Wives.
It seems that under our laws, as interpreted in the States of New York and Ohio, husbands still have the right to beat their wives. A certain Mr. Schultz assaulted Mrs. Schultz. She claimed damages for a certain amount. A verdict was given in her favor; whereupon the case was sent to the Court of Appeals, and it was decided that the court below was wrong, and that under the common law a husband has the right to punish his spouse by blows or otherwise, provided it is done judiciously; in other words, he must not use undue violence. When the case came before him in a lower court, Judge Davis said that the wife's tongue often inflicted more cruel wounds than could the husband's fist or stick. In the Ohio case, the judge decided that the laws giving women their rights of property in no way change their relation to their husbands from a conjugal point of view...."
The stories above are only two examples of the many, many published abuses women were faced with in the 19th century through and including the present day. With this historical perspective in mind, it can now be more easily understood that female artists like Henriette Delong, who lived and worked during the 19th century were rarely, if ever, truly and properly recognized for their artistic accomplishments and achievements.
Like many others, Henriette Delong has been relegated to the dustbin of art history. However, with this article, we hope to resurrect the spirit and the genius of Henriette Delong as well as her talent, her memory, and her contribution to art history.
In 1882, Henriette Delong was credited by her male counterparts as being the "originator of a new art industry" and especially in the areas of jewelry and architecture. How many female artists in history have earned this designation and from some of the most well respected architects in French history? How many female artists in today's art world can be considered as having contributed anything "new" or "innovative?"
The following edited article was originally published in the "Englishwoman's Review" in the year 1882. At the time it was published, Henriette Delong was 39 years of age and had already lived what probably seemed to her to be two lifetimes.
"Madame Henriette Delong - December 15, 1882
Notes from official French documents reference the following for Henrietta Delong: Inventor of machines, tools and operations for cutting all hard metals mechanically by saws. Originator of a new art-industry, especially applied in architecture, by S. Orth.
"Are Women Inventors?" was the heading of a paper in the October number of the ENGLISHWOMAN'S REVIEW, 1882, which has induced the collector of these notes to direct the attention of English readers to a very remarkable, ingenious, and courageous woman inventor.
According to the official testimony of various French commissioners, and many eminent French architects, such as Messieurs Eugene Viollet Le Duc, Lalande, Due, Hector-Martin Lefuel and others, Henriette Delong originated a new art-industry, which finds extensive application in the decorations of buildings, of furniture, windows, doors, and in a large number of products known as "Articles de Paris;" and the various inventions of this lady have been patented in France, England and other countries. The products of this Art-industry were first exhibited in the International Exhibition of Paris in 1867(1) (L'Exposition Universelle, Paris 1864), when Madame Delong received a silver and bronze medal."
Bisson Brothers - Exposition Universelle. 1867. Paris. Le pavillon Algeria
One only has to review the actual catalogue of the 1867 Paris Exhibition to get a sense of the enormity of it. It was an astonishing and extraordinary exhibition for its day.
The amazing accomplishments of Henriette Delong were remarkably memorialized by the elite males of the French establishment of the day - a feat extraordinarily difficult for any female artist, past or present. At the Paris Exhibition in 1867, she shared space with the most famous master artists of her day, such as Van Gogh (2).
EUGENE VIOLLET LE DUC
Eugene Viollet Le Duc (courtesy Wikipedia)
Eugene Viollet Le Duc was born in Paris in 1814. He was one of the most influential architectural theorists of the 19th century. His work in France, England and America are well known. There is little doubt he was attracted to Henriette Delong as his writing encouraged a great deal of creative thought and debate regarding honest structural expression and the embracing of modern technology. Henriette's inventions no doubt intrigued him.
HECTOR-MARTIN LEFUEL
The 2004 Encyclopedia Britannica references that Hector Lefuel was born on November 14, 1810, and was the son of a building contractor. He studied with Jean-Nicolas Huyot and received the Prix de Rome for architecture in 1839. In Rome he met C.F. Gounod, who had won the prize in the same year for composition. Following his design for the theatre at Fontainebleau, in 1854 he succeeded Visconti to become the chief architect of the neo-baroque New Louvre, an important symbol of the Second Empire. He also built the Palais des Beaux Arts in Paris and he was the architect of the empress Eugénie.
Other buildings from his hand include the Hôtel Fould and the Hôtel Nieuwerkerke. These structures are no longer in existence. He died on December 31, 1880.
In 1868 the Central Society of French architects - under the presidency of Lefuel, the eminent architect and member of the Institut de France, published a report of their Commission of five well-known architects, from which the following is taken:
"The Commission bears testimony to the finish and precision of Madame Delong's work, and was surprised by the simplicity of the operations, and the facility by which results are obtained which offer to art many and various means of application; the richest and most solid decorations can now easily be made, which previously could be obtained only at the sacrifice of much time, of great difficulty of labour, and at a very large expense."
"This Society awarded a first class medal, to Madame Delong, the first woman ever honoured in this way.
Similar reports and certificates have been published by commissions of engineers, and scientific and industrial persons. Our space being limited, neither the titles of these documents nor extracts from them can be given.
The following prizes, medals and honour-diplomas have been awarded to Madame Delong:
In 1867 Paris, International Exhibition, two medals.
1868 Le Harve, gold medal.
1869 Academie National, Paris, honour-diploma.
1870 Paris, Societe d'Encouragement, great Platina medal.
1870 Paris, Fine Art Exhibition, first class medal.
1870 Narboime, gold medal.
1872 Lyons, first class medal.
1872 Lima.
1872 Paris, Academy Exhibition, gold medal.
1873 Vienna, two medals of progress.
1875 Paris, Maritime Exhibition, gold medal and honour-diploma.
1876 Orleans, honour-diploma.
1878 Paris, International Exhibition, great gold medal.
1880 Paris, Artistic Exhibition, gold medal.
The products of Madame Delong's industry can be seen in Paris, in the Grand Hotel du Louvre, and Hotel Continental, in the Grand Opera House, in the Opera Comique, in the Theatres de la Renaissance, la Gaite, Gymnase, Nouveautes, etc., in the churches St. Marie, St. Joseph, St. Ambroise and many others; in the magazines du Bon Marche, du Louvre, in the Chambre des Deputes, in the Ministry of Finance, in the Theatre of Cherbourg, and in many other buildings."
Without further intensive research, it is impossible to know exactly what artistic contributions Henriette Delong made to the above-referenced institutions. Suffice it to state that she was a well seasoned and accomplished artist in her day. Below are two of the buildings to which she contributed which are still in existence today.
Grand Hotel du Louvre
Paris L'Opéra Comique
"...Henriette Goulard Delong was born in 1843, the daughter of a man who first introduced the white of zinc as a substitute for the poisonous white of lead, and who had the great merit of having saved and of saving many thousands of workmen from being poisoned, or suffering from the injurious effects of lead poisoning. Like Henriette Delong, little is known about her father.
One of Henriette's brothers also made several industrial and scientific inventions. As she was one of twelve children, and obliged to earn her own living, Henriette's school education ceased at the age of 14, when she was apprenticed to a female working-jeweler. In the course of a few years she had made great progress, and was considered an artist; the first jewelers and goldsmiths of Paris entrusted her with the execution of the richest gold ornaments which she worked by hand, and with saws of the thickness of a hair; she was paid whatever price she asked for her works of art.
At the age of eighteen, Henrietta Goulard married M. Delong, and was very happy for two years, until her husband fell sick and continued an invalid for three years until he died. During these years of trouble and constant cares she had to support husband, son, and herself; the mental anxiety, the incessant work, even during a weakened state of health, finally caused an almost complete paralysis of Henrietta's right arm - the arm which had been the principal support of her family was completely lost. The young mother and widow, at twenty-three years of age, had nothing to expect but a life of misery, and her former aspirations to be an artist were doomed by her helpless bodily state.
Having retained fully her mental faculties, she concentrated her energy on finding some mechanical means to supply the lost force of her arm; hitherto it was her hand which moved and directed the fine saw, while the object to be worked at was fixed; she tried to reverse the process, and began to study the mechanical operation by which the saw is fixed and moved in the same direction, while the object to be worked is moved.
Henrietta Delong chose to adapt the principle of the sewing machine to the work of jewelry, but encountered various and great difficulties; first, of stopping suddenly the movement of the saw, for one stroke more than absolutely necessary would spoil the design and destroy the jewel; further (the rapidity of the mechanical movement being tenfold) it was required in this new work to invent the right dimensions, the suitable quality, appropriate teeth, and a special tempering of the saw.
Finally after many laborious studies and experiments, this persevering lady invented all that was wanted for the mechanical cutting of the precious metals; the work was done with marvelous perfection and exactitude; and Henriette Delong began to hope for better times, but she had scarcely completed her inventions when another unexpected obstacle deprived her of the fruit of her labors.
When gold and jewels are worked, all the minute particles and the dust falling off are collected with the greatest care; these the workman must restore to his employer to the amount of the difference in weight of the raw material and the finished jewel; 1/50 and 1/100 of a grain is taken into account.
Madame Delong's mechanical work being so rapid, and the vibration of her machine very great, the surrounding air is very much agitated and the gold dust dispersed to such an extent that it cannot be sufficiently collected, so that much gold was lost. As this loss was not compensated by the gain of time and the extraordinary precision of the work, the inventions remained practically without result, and the dreams of a happier future again disappeared.
Notwithstanding this unexpected disappointment the courageous inventor recommenced her work. Finding that the value of her inventions was lost through the high price of precious metals, Madame Delong turned her attention to the common metals and to transforming nickel, copper, zinc, iron, and steel, into products of art, not by the old very expensive, slow manual work, but by precise, quick, useful, and cheap mechanical operations; thus the loss of minute particles and dust of the common metals was not to be taken into account, and all the advantages of the new inventions could be obtained.
Henriette Delong's perseverance finally removed all obstacles by inventing not only new machines and tools, but a special class of ribbon saws of various sizes, with a special construction of teeth, and a special mode of joining and tempering these saws. Towards the end of this year's summer season in London, a small exhibition of her art products was privately shown to many scientific and industrial persons, who were surprised to see the beauty and finish of fretwork in iron and steel, decorations of doors, windows, panels, of inlaid picture and glass frames, of inlaid furniture, of boxes and many other objects commonly known as articles de Paris. A long autograph letter of H.R.H. the Prince of Wales was shown expressing his thanks to Madame Delong for a large monogram in steel which she had presented to him in Paris through the late Lady Craven. A similar beautiful large monogram, cut out of a piece of metal three fourths of an inch in thickness, was exhibited and very much admired by several eminent architects and persons knowing how to appreciate such works of art produced mechanically.
Many persons tried to rob Henriette Delong of her inventions; but after four years of protracted legal proceedings before the French tribunals they were condemned to pay very heavy damages; an ungrateful foreman had stolen the saws from Henriette Delong's workshop, and given them to dishonest manufacturers.
An English company was formed with the intention of buying Henriette Delong's English patents, and securing to this country, her important new art-industry.
Any author interested in woman's progress would find in Henriette Delong's life plenty of the most interesting materials for a biography of the woman who has proved by her intelligence, perseverance, and courage what women can do, and that women can be, and that they are indeed inventors and originators of new industries."
It is doubtful that anyone living today or in the recent past has ever heard of Henriette Delong, until now anyway; however, it is clear that at least in the days of the late 19th century, she became a very well known artist in France and London with reports of her creative genius reaching America and specifically New York City where her fame was announced in women's magazines of the day. It is a shame that none of her work is readily evidenced in any of the research we have conducted. Without accessing centuries old primary source documents on Ms. Delong's life as well as copies of her patents (assuming records still exist) it would be impossible to know more about her life and work. Nevertheless, what we do know is Henriette Delong was an inspiration to men and especially women of her day. We hope that through this article she will live on into the 21st century and beyond, and continue to be an inspiration to female artists everywhere. She was a strong, courageous woman, with skills that surpassed or at least equaled her 19th century male equivalent. Henriette was well respected and as referenced above, won many awards for her work. It is also evident that she was quite prolific and in relentless pursuit of perfection.
Despite the tremendous hardships Henriette experienced, including the loss of her husband and the loss of her arm, she triumphed and went on to fight heartily for the intellectual property she developed, legally challenging the thieves who stole her inventions, taking the thieves to task before the French tribunals when it was not necessarily wise for a woman to do so.
We know that Henriette's work still exists somewhere and is probably incorporated into French architecture and elsewhere in France today, though we would not recognize it. It is enough to know that Henriette Delong lived a life rich in the arts, and did produce some amazing work - so beautiful in fact that it was offered as a gift to the Prince of Wales. One wonders where the letter is today, commending Henriette Delong for her work. The Prince's letter must too still exist somewhere, just as Henriette Delong's amazing achievements still exist but have until now been forgotten.
--Edited by Theresa Franks for Fine Art Registry
1. The exposition was formally opened on April 1, and closed on October 31, 1867, and was visited by 9,238,967 persons, including exhibitors and employees. This exposition was the greatest up to its time of all international expositions, both with respect to its extent and to the scope of its plan.
2. Vincent Van Gogh and other artists of the post-impressionism movement of the late 19th century were part of the European art craze inspired by the displays seen here, and wrote often of the Japanese woodcut prints "that one sees everywhere, landscapes and figures." Not only was Van Gogh a collector of the new art brought to Europe from a newly freed Japan, but many other French artists from the late 19th century were so influenced by the Japanese artistic world-view. Source: Wikipedia
— by Theresa Franks
| December 28, 2010
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