From the beginning ….
I surround myself with the things that I love and things that I have discovered along the way. Each piece tells a story or reminds me of a special moment in time.
A glass lamp base found in a little shop on the Lido in Venice after two long days of searching. Shutters lying hidden in a bed of ivy, bleached by the sun and forgotten about for years. A shabby gilded pelmet brought back to it’s former glory. Endless pleasure is derived from the finding of such items and this has combined with my desire to create new pieces with inspiration taken from my travels and experiences.
France has played a large part in my life, holidays spent and books read as a child. I’ve often had the feeling that in a former life I spent many a day during the French Revolution walking the cobbled streets of Paris. Whilst on holiday at my godmother’s house in the south of France I came across a painting she had hanging in her bedroom. The Empress Josephine was leaning heartbroken against a chair that was upholstered in the very same turquoise colour fabric that I had just had woven for a similar chair. This became my inspiration for our company, coupled with the fact that Josephine is a family name that I share.
Joséphine de Beauharnais was the first wife of Napoléon Bonaparte and the first French Empress. Through her children, Eugène & Hortense, many of the current Royal families descend.
Born on 23rd June 1763 in Les Trois-Ilets, Martinique, named Marie Joséphe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie, to a wealthy white Creole family that owned a sugar plantation. Alexandre de Beauharnais, her first husband was guillotined during the Reign of Terror and she survived imprisonment in the notorious Carmes prison.
Prominent on the Parisian social scene Joséphine met the young General Bonaparte. Her elegance, style and knowledge helped Napoléon immensely. She became Napoleon’s mistress and later his wife. In 1804 Napoleon was crowned Emperor and at his side she became the first Empress of France. However due to her inability to bear him an heir to the throne, she agreed to a divorce. During their long separations Joséphine was the recipient of numerous love letters written by Napoleon, many of which still exist today.
She died of pneumonia on 29th May 1814 aged 50. having caught a cold whilst walking in her beloved gardens at Chateaux de Malmaison with Czar Alexander.
As a major patron of the arts she left an indelible mark on history. Joséphine’s exquisite taste in décor, fashion, jewellery and the arts was much admired and adopted by the French Court. She commissioned works of the highest quality and her encouragement contributed immeasurably toward making the Consulate-Empire era so artistically innovative.
Frances Lamb
Managing director of Joséphine
