Hi fellow modellers ,
We all like the unusual models and it was my pleasure to receive the latest release in the WW1 range of busts from UP Miniaturen this time its the femme fatale Margaretha Geertruida Zelle , better known as Mati Hari .
Before we move onto the figure lets have a bit of background history to this interesting and unusual subject .
Mata Hari was the stage name adopted by Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle MacLeod October 1917, Vincennes), a Dutchexotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy . She was born on 7 August 1876 in Leeuwarden in Holland .
She answereed a newspaper advert placed by Dutch Colonial Army officer Rudolf John MacLeod and they moved to Java , the marriage was a failure despite producing 2 children , and she left him for another officer during which time she joined a local dance company and learnt all the moves !!, at the same time she adopted the famous name which is Indonesian for "sun" or "eye of the day".
She went back to her husband and in 1903 began working as an exotic dancer in Paris but the marriage finally resulted in a 1906 divorce , Promiscuous, flirtatious, and openly flaunting her body, she captivated her audiences and was an overnight success from the debut of her act at the Musee Guimet on 13 March 1905 The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore just a jeweled bra and some ornaments upon her arms and head.She was seldom seen without a bra as she was self-conscious about being small-breasted. Pictures taken during her performances suggest she may have worn a body-stocking for her shows, as navel and other bits of the female anatomy are not seen even in poses where they should be visible
In WW1 when interviewed by British intelligence officers, she admitted to working as an agent for French military intelligence, although the latter would not confirm her story. It is unclear if she lied on this occasion, believing the story made her sound more intriguing, or if French authorities were using her in such a way, but would not acknowledge her due to the embarrassment and international backlash it could cause.January 1917, the German military in Madrid transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy, code-named H-21. French intelligence agents intercepted the messages and, from the information they contained, identified H-21 as Mata Hari. Unusually, the messages were in a code that German intelligence knew had already beenworked out by the French, so perhaps the messages were contrived.
On 13 February 1917, Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris. She was put on trial, accused of spying for Germany and consequently causing the deaths of at least 50,000 soldiers.
She was found guilty and was executed by firing squad on 15 October 1917, at the age of 41, a description of her execution states that she refused a blindfold and wore the best clothes available to her in prison.
As the shots rang out and Mata Hari fell. she did not die as actors and moving picture stars would have us believe that people die when they are shot. She did not throw up her hands nor did she plunge straight forward or straight back. Instead she seemed to collapse. Slowly, inertly, she settled to her knees, her head up always, and without the slightest change of expression on her face. For the fraction of a second it seemed she tottered there, on her knees, gazing directly at those who had taken her life. Then she fell backward, bending at the waist, with her legs doubled up beneath her. She lay prone, motionless, with her face turned towards the sky ...she had paid the price some say wrongly.
The fact that almost immediately after her death questions rose about the justification of her execution, on top of rumours about the way she acted during her execution, set the story. The idea of an exotic dancer working as a lethal double agent, using her powers of seduction to extract military secrets from her many lovers fired the popular imagination, set the legend and made Mata Hari an enduring archetype of the femme fatale.
For your delight and reference pf course heres some pictures of the lady herself (I have been "selective"!!!!
)
Continued in the next post:
Nap
We all like the unusual models and it was my pleasure to receive the latest release in the WW1 range of busts from UP Miniaturen this time its the femme fatale Margaretha Geertruida Zelle , better known as Mati Hari .
Before we move onto the figure lets have a bit of background history to this interesting and unusual subject .
Mata Hari was the stage name adopted by Margaretha Geertruida "Grietje" Zelle MacLeod October 1917, Vincennes), a Dutchexotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy . She was born on 7 August 1876 in Leeuwarden in Holland .
She answereed a newspaper advert placed by Dutch Colonial Army officer Rudolf John MacLeod and they moved to Java , the marriage was a failure despite producing 2 children , and she left him for another officer during which time she joined a local dance company and learnt all the moves !!, at the same time she adopted the famous name which is Indonesian for "sun" or "eye of the day".
She went back to her husband and in 1903 began working as an exotic dancer in Paris but the marriage finally resulted in a 1906 divorce , Promiscuous, flirtatious, and openly flaunting her body, she captivated her audiences and was an overnight success from the debut of her act at the Musee Guimet on 13 March 1905 The most celebrated segment of her act was her progressive shedding of clothing until she wore just a jeweled bra and some ornaments upon her arms and head.She was seldom seen without a bra as she was self-conscious about being small-breasted. Pictures taken during her performances suggest she may have worn a body-stocking for her shows, as navel and other bits of the female anatomy are not seen even in poses where they should be visible
In WW1 when interviewed by British intelligence officers, she admitted to working as an agent for French military intelligence, although the latter would not confirm her story. It is unclear if she lied on this occasion, believing the story made her sound more intriguing, or if French authorities were using her in such a way, but would not acknowledge her due to the embarrassment and international backlash it could cause.January 1917, the German military in Madrid transmitted radio messages to Berlin describing the helpful activities of a German spy, code-named H-21. French intelligence agents intercepted the messages and, from the information they contained, identified H-21 as Mata Hari. Unusually, the messages were in a code that German intelligence knew had already beenworked out by the French, so perhaps the messages were contrived.
On 13 February 1917, Mata Hari was arrested in her room at the Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris. She was put on trial, accused of spying for Germany and consequently causing the deaths of at least 50,000 soldiers.
She was found guilty and was executed by firing squad on 15 October 1917, at the age of 41, a description of her execution states that she refused a blindfold and wore the best clothes available to her in prison.
As the shots rang out and Mata Hari fell. she did not die as actors and moving picture stars would have us believe that people die when they are shot. She did not throw up her hands nor did she plunge straight forward or straight back. Instead she seemed to collapse. Slowly, inertly, she settled to her knees, her head up always, and without the slightest change of expression on her face. For the fraction of a second it seemed she tottered there, on her knees, gazing directly at those who had taken her life. Then she fell backward, bending at the waist, with her legs doubled up beneath her. She lay prone, motionless, with her face turned towards the sky ...she had paid the price some say wrongly.
The fact that almost immediately after her death questions rose about the justification of her execution, on top of rumours about the way she acted during her execution, set the story. The idea of an exotic dancer working as a lethal double agent, using her powers of seduction to extract military secrets from her many lovers fired the popular imagination, set the legend and made Mata Hari an enduring archetype of the femme fatale.
For your delight and reference pf course heres some pictures of the lady herself (I have been "selective"!!!!
)Continued in the next post:
Nap
