One of the things I'd like to do with the 3D model of 1239 First Street is to display items made from the descriptions of them in Anne Rice's novels. I've already added the first of the framed portraits used for cover art, such as the painting on the cover of Blood Canticle. The cameos from the front and back of the dust jacket of Blackwood Farm appear in GIF images on the Parlor. Of course, the Mayfair Emerald was made from descriptions of it in The Witching Hour, and now, I have been working on a model of the emerald key featured in the AMC series.
One branch of the Mayfairs is unique, though. The branch of Merrick Mayfair.
 |
| "The Snake Charmer" by Henri Rousseau (1907) Marian Goodman Gallery |
The dust jacket's artwork, "The Snake Charmer" by Henri Rousseau, is something I'd like to feature in the model, but there are a lot of other things in Merrick that I think would be fascinating to display as well. Early in the novel, when Merrick met David Talbot and Aaron Lightner, she talked about her connection to the white Mayfairs of the Garden District. This connection, she said, was through Oncle Julien (of course). The other was another Mayfair who was already a Free Person of Color, even though she was also a Mayfair--Angelique Marybelle Mayfair. This Mayfair ancestor was also the aunt of Oncle Julien (again, of course).
Of course, this would not be the same Angelique Mayfair who was the fifth Mayfair Witch, born in 1725. This Mayfair Witch was the great-grandmother of Oncle Julien. So no, not the same Angelique Mayfair!
What brought on the mention of Angelique Marybelle Mayfair was the collection of old photographs Merrick had collected of her ancestors. The oldest in Merrick's collection was indeed of Angelique Marybelle Mayfair, a formal posed portrait with hair parted neatly in the middle, a shawl typical of the period and a pair of spectacles and a folded fan in her hands. This led me to see what I could find on formal portraits of the Free People of Color.
The idea is to see if I can create graphics of these old photographs in Merrick's collection by their descriptions in the novels. Amazingly, I have found that there are indeed old photographs and portraits of the Free People of Color that have survived.
 |
| Le Musée de f.p.c. |
Very quickly, I found that in New Orleans is a museum dedicated to preserving the history of the Free People of Color. Le Musée de f.p.c. is, from the photos on their website and in articles on the museum, full of photographs and portraits of these people, along with other preserved artifacts.
The museum at 2336 Esplanade Avenue is housed in yet another house similar to the Brevard Rice house. Images of the house show a lot of smaller details that are astonishing. So, what to do?
 |
| 2336 Esplanade Avenue, New Orleans, LA |
I've added a new section to the Exploring New Orleans Architecture page on the Parlor. This section gives an overview and images of the house. Some of the details, both similar and different, are pointed out. Of course, there are links to the official website of Le Musée de f.p.c. and an excellent article on NOLA.com about the museum.
Going back to Merrick Mayfair herself, although she did not have any association with her relatives in the Garden District, she was aware of them. Despite this, she continued to live in the same house she had grown up in, a house very different from 1239 First Street.
On the face, the Mayfairs in the Garden District and Merrick's Mayfair line appear very different from one another. And in many ways, they are. However, there are other smaller details that tend to create small but significant links to details of a shared history. It's a bit like comparing the French Creole manor houses of the sugar plantations on Saint-Domingue to the later plantation mansions built in Louisiana and the South after the Haitian Revolution.
Or that Haitian Voodoo seems to have survived down Merrick Mayfair's line while Stella Mayfair had by some accounts been a practitioner of New Orleans Voodoo. Merrick's collection of old photographs and her ancestors having been Free People of Color tends to hint at The Feast of All Saints.
Hmmm...