Unidentified Unidentified Woman or Women

Description

The colonial postcard, popular in the first two decades of the 20th century, came to represent both the technological triumphs of western photography – in printing and mass production – and the political triumphs of European conquest and expansion. These postcards also promoted tourism to the French Caribbean, painting the region as a safe, favorable, and exotic travel destination.The woman in this image wears a traditional chemise jupe, an informal bodice and skirt ensemble. Prior to Emancipation, enslaved women in the French Caribbean were subject to le code noir, which required them to wear a chemise jupe made up of a white blouse, two skirts, and silver jewelry. The first skirt was colorful whereas the second one was made from cotton and muslin. Following Emancipation, black women resisted these dress codes by donning elaborate five-piece formal douillettes that were previously forbidden.The ensemble is finished with an ornately tied madras head scarf with attached pins. Originally produced in the Chennai region of southeast India, madras cloth became popular amongst Creole women in the 18th century and replaced the white cotton head kerchief which was associated with the dress codes of enslavement. In the early twentieth century, Guadeloupian and Martiniquan women reclaimed this head adornment as their own and many wore madras head scarves with their douillette and chemise jupes. The square or rectangular piece of madras cloth was worn over the forehead and folded to display varying numbers of peaks. The head scarf can be tied in a ceremonial fashion or...

Record Contributed By

National Museum of African American History and Culture

Record Harvested From

Smithsonian Institution