Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild) (née de Rothschild) (1825-1899)
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Charlotte de Rothschild, born on 6 May 1825, was the eldest child and only daughter of James (1792-1868) and Betty (1805-1886). In 1842 she married her English cousin, Nathaniel ('Nat') (1812-1870), the son of James's brother Nathan Rothschild. The couple had met whilst Nat was in Paris serving his apprenticeship with the French Rothschild banking house.
Charlotte was amongst the most outstanding artistic characters in her family. After her marriage, she lived in the rue du Faubourg Saint Honoré, and although Nat bought Château Mouton in 1853, the couple never made a residence there. Charlotte was a generous benefactor of charities, founding the Guild of Young Jewish Women which she supervised closely. Charlotte and Nat had four children; the first, Nathalie, died in infancy, and the third, Mayer Albert, lived for just four years. Her youngest child, Arthur, (1851-1903) never married, and scandalised some of the family with his behaviour. However, Charlotte and he remained close. James Edouard (1844-1881), Charlotte's second child, married Laura Thérèse von Rothschild (1847-1931), a Frankfurt cousin.
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild and music
Charlotte's mother Betty was a great patron of music, in particular Gioacchino Rossini (a family friend) and Frédéric Chopin. Georges Bizet and Camille Saint-Saëns were regularly in attendance at Rothschild salons. Chopin taught the piano to both Betty and Charlotte. The composer also dedicated two works to Charlotte, his famous Ballade No. 4 in F minor, Op. 52, believed to have been written as a wedding present for her marriage, and, four years later, his Waltz in C-sharp minor, Op. 64, No. 2. In 1860 Charlotte published four pieces for piano (J. Maho, Paris), Polka in C minor, Waltz in F minor, Nocturn in C Minor, and Waltz in A minor. In the years since, the credit for the latter two has been given to Chopin, since they match, note for note, pieces published under his name. However, these 'Chopin' pieces were published posthumously, in 1937 and 1955, respectively, long after the composer’s death in 1849, suggesting Charlotte's pieces may well have been 'absorbed' into his papers and eventually mis-attributed to the more famous Polish composer.
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild and art
Charlotte was a prolific and accomplished watercolourist, printmaker, and art collector. Charlotte and Nathaniel continued the tradition of patronage of the arts of thegreat Rothschild houses, maintaining friendships with such artistic figures as Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot, Henri Rousseau, and Édouard Manet. Between 1835 and1890, her homes became the focus of celebrated soirées attended by the most gifted artists, musicians, literary figures and bibliophiles.
Following in the footsteps of her father, James, Charlotte was an important collector of European art. A large part of her collection was inherited through her husband Nathaniel, his collection being particularly rich in Dutch landscapes. However, like her father, Charlotte’s personal preference was for the 18th century. Following Nathaniel’s death, she acquired a number of works by Chardin, and works from more modern artists. Her magnificent collection included works from Fantin-Latour, vanDyck, Chardin, Hals, Greuze, Delacroix, Rousseau, Troyon, and Fromentin, among many others. Many of these were bequeathed at her death to museums including the Louvre, the Museum of Decorative Arts and the Cluny Museum.
In 1873, in the early years of her widowhood, Charlotte purchased the Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay in the Chevreuse valley, saving the ruins as she worked with thearchitect Félix Langlais to restore the former Cistercian monastery to her summer residence, an ideal setting for her exquisite collections of medieval and Renaissance objects.
Archive sources
The archive holds few private papers of Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild. See Named collections, The Lafite Papers for sundry estate papers, (including a copy of her will) OE 453, and sundry papers relating to purchases of art, OE 448. See Estates: L'Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay for sources relating to this property.
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): private correspondence with Lord Lyons, 000/2946
1872; 1880, 2 items
Letters from Lord Richard Lyons (1817-1887), to Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899). These letters were sent to Charloette from the British ambassador to his neighbour in Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris:
- lettter dated 29 March 1872, writing to say he cannot accept his invitation for Thursday, having a party at home that day;
- letter dated 3 May 1880 writing to say he is sad to have to give up the pleasure of dining with the Baroness on Saturday being obliged to spend a few days in London on ambassadorial business, and fears that he will not be back in time. He asks for the indulgence of his closest neighbour.
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899), music scores [facsimile copies], 2015 [1860;1872]
000/2381, 1 volume
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): music scores, [facsimile copies]: Volume, Chopin I Baronowa Nathanielowa de Rothschild [Chopin and Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild] by Jean-Jacques Eigeldinger published by the Narodowy Instytut Fryderyka Chopina [Frederick Chopin Institute], Warsaw, 2015.
The volume contains essays concerning the Baroness and the composer, and explores the relationship between two pieces, the Nocturne in C minor and the Waltz in A minor, and an unknown version of the Mazourka Op. posth.67 No.4. In 1860 Charlotte published four pieces for piano (J. Maho, Paris), Polka in C minor, Waltz in F minor, Nocturne in C Minor, and Waltz in A minor. In the years since, the credit for the latter two has been given to Chopin, since they match, note for note, pieces published under his name. However, these ‘Chopin’ pieces were published posthumously, in 1937 and 1955, respectively, long after the composer’s death in 1849, suggesting Rothschild’s pieces may well have been ‘absorbed’ into his papers and eventually misattributed to the incomparably more famous Polish composer. The volume reproduces in facsimile published pieces by the Baroness, from originals in the collection of the Bibliotheque Nationales Musique, Paris:
- 4 Pièces Baronne Nathaniel de Rothschild, (J.Maho, 25 faubourg St Honoré, Paris, 1860) including No.1. Nocturne, No.2. Polka, No.3. Valse, No.4. Valse;
- Deux Pièces pour Piano and Violoncelle par la Baronne Nathaniel de Rothschild, (J.Maho, 25 faubourg St Honoré, Paris, 1872)
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild, 'Poésies hébraïco-provençales du ritual israélite comtadin', poetry dedicated to the Baroness, 1891
000/2125/3, 1 volume
A copy of Poésies hébraïco-provençales du ritual israélite comtadin (Avignon, 1891), a poetry collection transcribed and translated by S.M. Dom Pedro II d’Alcantara, Empereur du Brésil. The volume is dedicated to Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (née de Rothschild) (1825-1899). In his preface, Dom Pedro d’Alcantara wrote: “Ces chants naïfs, composés pour les fêtes de famille, rappellent les noëls de l’Église catholique et sont encore répandus, de nos jours, dans les quatre communautés de l’ancien Comtat-Venaissin : Avignon, Carpentras, L’Isle, Cavaillon, et dans toutes les communautés qui en dérivent, soit de la Provence, soit du Languedoc.“ He also recounts how he became a scholar of the Hebrew and Arabic languages.
Artworks by Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild
Charlotte was a prolific and accomplished watercolourist, printmaker, and art collector. Charlotte studied under Hercule Trachel (1820-1872), Nélie Jacquemart (1841–1912), and Eugène Lami (1800-1890). It was under Trachel’s tutelage that Rothschild developed her great talent for landscape painting; the two often travelled to Italy onartistic excursions. Charlotte exhibited her landscapes at the Paris salon as of 1864 as well as in London from 1879. Charlotte was one of only two women of the total 73 artists who participated in the exhibitions of the Société des aquarellistes français (the Society of French Watercolour Painters), of which she, together with Lami was afounding member, the other woman being Madeleine Lemaire.
In 1869, Charlotte published an album of her works, Italie - Souvenir d’un voyage de Nice à Génes par la Corniche, Vingt-trois de mes Dessins (Eaux-fortes), [Italy -Souvenir of a trip from Nice to Genoa by the Corniche, Twenty-three of my Drawings (etchings)], (privately published, Paris 1869). The volume was published in asmall number of copies, strictly for distribution as gifts to family and friends. It includes etched views of areas between Côte d'Azur and Genoa, one of the greatRomantic voyages pittoresques. The journey began in Nice and concluded in Genoa. Most of the plates, show harbours and coastlines from the viewpoint of the shore, although four are townscapes. The outlines of cities appear in some of the harbour plates as well; the emphasis falls on the romantic celebration of nature, withpicturesque elements (fishermen, washer women) providing a sense of scale and enlivening the scenes. Unusually, the place names of the locales depicted are etched in the plate. The volume is extremely rare; regretfully, although the Archive collection contains examples of etchings after works by Charlotte, the Archive does not hold acopy of this volume, but copies are known to exist in the collections of the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Cabinet des Estampes, and at the Bibliothèque de Cessolein Nice. Examples of engravings after works by Charlotte in the Archive collection are listed below.
See also Named Collections: the Rue de Courcelles Collection for two original watercolours by Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothchild: 000/2089/152, a framed watercolour landscapeand 000/2089/153, a framed watercolour view of Venice.
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate, 'Les Bords de Meuse, Près Rotterdam', from an unknown portfolio volume, c.1868
000/2892/2, 1 item
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate, Les Bords de Meuse, Près Rotterdam, , engraved by Gillot, after an original by Charlotte. Extracted from an unknown portfolio volume/publication. date unknown, although a date of '1868' is given in manuscript.
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate 'A Scafati, Environs de Naples' from the portfolio volume 'Salon de 1876', 1876
000/1279, 1 item
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate, A Scafati, Environs de Naples, engraved by Lèon Gaucherel, after a watercolour by Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild. (Printed by Francois Lèonard, Paris). This plate has been extracted from a larger portfolio volume Salon de 1876 (Société d'aquarellistes Français, Paris, 1876).
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate 'Moulin à Catane' from the portfolio volume 'L'Art', c.1883
000/2892/1, 1 item
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate, Moulin à Catane. Signed 'C de Rothschild', engraved by Daniel Mordant, after an original by Charlotte. Extracted from the portfolio volume L'Art, printed by Lallement, Paris. c.1883.
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plates from the portfolio volume 'Cinquième Expostion de la Société d'Aquarellistes Français', 1883
000/2602/1-2, 2 items
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plates after original works by Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild from the portfolio volume, Cinquième Expostion de la Société d'Aquarellistes Français (Société d'Aquarellistes Français, Imprimerie de L'Art, Paris, 1883).
- photogravure plate, Moulin du Steurs, Amsterdam engraved by S.Petit, after a watercolour by Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild;
- photogravure plate, On the Lake near Geneva, engraved by an uknown hand, after a watercolour by Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild.
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate, 'Canal a Venise' from the portfolio volume 'Septième Exposition de la Sociètè d'Aquarelistes Français', 1885
000/2551, 1 item
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate, Canal a Venise, engraved by Thèophile Chauvel S.C. after a watercolour by Charlotte,Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild. (Printed by A. Clement, Paris). This plate has been extracted from a larger portfolio volume Septième Exposition de la Sociètèd'Aquarelistes Français, (Société d'Aquarellistes Français, D. Jouast, Paris, 1885).
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate 'Une rue à Dinan (Bretagne)' from an unknown portfolio volume, c.1885
000/1273, 1 item
Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild (1825-1899): photogravure plate Une rue à Dinan (Bretagne) engraved by Lèon Gaucherel, after a watercolour by Charlotte, Baroness Nathaniel de Rothschild. (Printed by A. Salmon, Paris). This plate has been extracted from a larger (unknown) portfolio volume, possibly the volume Septième Exposition de la Sociètè d'Aquarelistes Français, (Société d'Aquarellistes Français, D. Jouast, Paris, 1885).