Thank you for your review.
Journal, Diary, & Blogging / “In France a perfect breast fills [the volume of a] wine glass…†(Analysis)
In Food and Wine Magazine I recently read about the champagne coupe’s “comebackâ€. This is pleasant surprise because I always associate the coupe with two of my favorite films, “All About Eve” and “The Philadelphia Story”. Despite the fact that the coupe style can allow for the champagne to warm quickly and for its bubbles to dissipate, I still believe there is something divinely sexy about drinking from this
particular stemware. It is no wonder given the legendary status of the coupe’s design.
A bit of history: The saucer shaped champagne glass was considered de rigeur during the late 1920s through the late 1960s; during this time cocktail party chit-chat inevitably led to the anecdote that the glasses were supposedly copied from two Sèvres porcelain dairy saucers molded on the breast of Marie Antoinette. Or, they were copies of the glasses Madame de Pompadour had crafted as a gift for Louis XV who “longed to drink from her breast.†If you were lucky you may have even heard the Helen of Troy explanation (the one where Paris made wax copies of her breasts and used the molds to form drinking glasses). [A list of these legends, and others can be found at Snopes.com]
Given all of the buxom bubbly legends mentioned, I decidedly had to research their genesis–
Out of all of these legends, I can at least verify the origin of the oft-heard Marie Antoinette story. It is a fact that she possessed four “buxom†dairy bowls known as the jattes tetons which survive today and often on display at the Musée National de Céramique de Sèvres in Paris.
The Madame de Pompadour’s breast-to-glass story is most likely apocryphal as is the Helen of Troy tale. In all of the stories you simply have the cleaving desire to possess an unattainable historical siren—what could be more sexual than placing ones lips to [insert famous female name here]’s breast while drinking sparkling wine?
While researching these legends, I also dizzily came across the name of Lee Miller. Miller was a model, photographer and the muse-lover of Man Ray (many of his most famous nude images are of Lee Miller)! Much has been said about Lee Miller’s breasts in the art world, but I never thought I’d see her name in association with champagne coupes. Nonetheless, Tony Perrottet of Tony’s Secret Cabinet–a blog of historical anecdotes from his forthcoming book Napoleon’s Privates: 2500 Years of History Unzipped–writes, “Miller was widely regarded to have the most beautiful breasts in the city [Paris] – thus, it’s said, inspiring a French glass company to model a new coupe on her form.†This is the coupe form that was all the rage in the 1930s and the one uber-designer Marc Jacobs allegedly copied for his Winter 2007 glassware collection.
**
Truth be told, I’m not a fan of champagne (or, any sparkling wines for that matter, unless you count some Italian ones); therefore, here is my recipe of a coupe-worthy drink that I ripped off from my culinary hero Anthony Bourdain, formerly of Brasserie Les Halles:
Prenez Une Morsure de l’Orange Sanguine
One part Champagne
One Part Archer Farms Blood Orange Italian Soda (available at Target)
A splash of Ginger Ale
[Aesthetically this drink doesn’t look like Bourdain’s despite tasting exactly like it. He uses blood orange pulp and that gives it a milkier appearance. You can add a splash of traditional orange juice to the mix to make it look just like Bourdain’s drink if you are a purist]
Pour the mixture into a coupe or a martini glass and look glamorous…
You need to log in to urbis or create an urbis account to review this writing.
Reviews
Sort Reviews by Newest | Oldest | Highest Quality | Lowest Quality | Newest Comments |
Matthewtuckey reviewed Version 2 -
Read 100% of the Item
This 233 word review has not been unlocked.
DCAllen reviewed Version 2 -
Read 100% of the Item
Informative and interesting.
In the first paragraph, it would be more interesting to give a slightly more detailed description of where the coupe was seen in the two movies.
The histories are just enough information for, say, a magazine article.
The ending is good, but I would leave the martini glass out and encourage the reader to go out and find this coupe you’ve been talking about.
Proofreading notes:
de rigeur = de rigueur
genesis = geneses (if you mean various origins)
ones lips = one’s (ones is plural)
recipe of a = recipe for a
a purist] (terminal punctuation missing)
- add/view comments (2)
acdoyler reviewed Version 2 -
Read 100% of the Item
Excellent feature article! I now know more about champagne glasses than my mom and my sister combined! It was very well written, with excellent transitions lots of useful information.
The narrator keeps an enthusiastic tone throughout the piece, and although I’m not a fan of sparkling wine it still held my interest.
Cheers!
occupational_hedonist reviewed Version 2 -
Read 100% of the Item
Nice article. I found it very well written and very informative and interesting. Who ever knew about the breast legend of the coupe? Fabulous! I like your style. It is informative and it doesn’t drag. It is very clear and also grabs the readers attention. I would like to see you continue writing journalistic articles because you definitely have a good knack for it.
shadowedxrain reviewed Version 2 -
Read 100% of the Item
Very no-nonsense, clear, and interesting. Truth be told, I was more focused on reading the contents than worrying about anything constructive! Very interesting article, well-written, and you’re obviously well-read on the subject on hand. You took the time to explain the subject to the reader, which is very important.
My only suggestions are to edit the sentence “The Mme. de Pompadour’s…while drinking sparkling wine?” it seems awkward and excessively wordy. Also, I would further explain which “Marie-Antoinette” story it is that you reference; the reader might not know which story you’re referring to.
thepastinfuture reviewed Version 2 -
Read 100% of the Item
This is entertaining, enough fact and opinion and care for the subject matter to keep me reading even though it’s a subject that I don’t really care about. I think people looking for your kind of blog would be very satisfied with your work, but those not specifically looking may not come back after reading through an initial posting, if only because the subject matter is so specific and not because of a lack of quality.
Showing 1 - 6 of 6
Review item
Add to favesCreator
Relevant Links
Item Stats
GENERAL
6 Reviews 3 Comments
Version 2
Latest Activity: about 1 year ago
REVIEW QUEUE
Appeared in Queue: 0 Times
Skipped: 5 Times
Ratings & Rankings
Versions
| Version 2 | Version 1 (Deleted) |