Clothing of the 1920s. The Costume Museum, Avallon. Photograph: Willem Vogelsang.Last Sunday, 11th June, Gillian and I visited the Costume Museum in Avallon, France. It was like stepping back in time.
The museum is run by two sisters, Agnès and Sylvie Carton, who have managed, with their mother Pauline, over many years to fill a large 17th century building (some 1000 square metres) in the centre of town with an amazing collection of paintings, garments and textiles (including some 3000 complete costumes), four-poster beds, glass work and porcelain, and anything else that you may associate with domestic material culture in France from the 18th to the 20th century.
Costumes of the second half of the 19th century. Costume Museum, Avallon. Photograph: Willem Vogelsang
We were drawn towards the museum because of an exhibition about velvet (Le velours et la mode). Since Gillian was about to give a lecture in the Mauritshuis Museum in The Hague on the same subject (Wednesday 14th), we made sure we had some time to visit the exhibition and the museum.
And what a surprise! We were shown around by Sylvie Carton, and it was absolutely clear that she knew what she was talking about. Her knowledge and passion for the subject were evident.
And there was so much to see. All those beautiful costumes, many of them made from or with velvet, very well presented on mannequins.
Wedding costumes, late 19th century, in the former chapel of the boys' school, The Costume Museum, Avallon. Photograph: Willem VogelsangThe Costume Museum (Musée du Costume) is housed in part of the Hôtel Condé, the former residence of the Condé family.
In the 19th century it was turned into a school for boys (Le Collège de Saint-Joseph). Afterwards it was turned into a museum by the sisters and their mother when their previous venue, in Amiens, simply had become too small. It is a true labyrinth of 11 rooms, with stairs and corridors, and even a chapel. All spaces and walls are used to exhibit the collection. And we would not be surprised if there was more in the cellars and attics.
If you ever had the feeling that many museums tend to exhibit their collection, including garments, as priceless pieces of ‘Art’ that deserve stunned admiration and deafening silence, then this museum presents the opposite.
Costumes of the late 18th century. The Costume Museum, Avallon. Photograph: Willem Vogelsang
Objects everywhere, just to admire for what they are, and no modern gadgets such as monitors, computers, light shows, and no internet pages. You even look in vain for a catalogue or for text boards. But what you see is a feast for the eyes. And every year a new temporary exhibition!
There is a YouTube film about the museum, click here.
Gillian and Willem Vogelsang, 16 June 2023
