[Belle Époque] Bernhardt, Sarah. (1844-1923). Bernhardt's Stage-Worn Diadem. A beautiful and finely wrought costume diadem, owned and worn in performances by the great 19th century actress. Gilted metal, imitation pearls and stones. Deaccessioned from the museum at Bernhardt's former residence, the collection of the Musée de la Citadelle Vauban, Belle-Île-en-Mer, France. An extraordinary item from perhaps the most famous actress the world has ever known.

"In accord with the practice at the time, she provided her own stage wardrobe ...Bernhardt's particularity about costuming is a function of her early training in the Conservatoire, where the combination of costume...and gesture was transformed into a vocabulary of its own." (Patricia Marks, "Sarah Bernhardt's first American theatrical tour," p. 17)