Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques) - La Femme au Puits

            The Postcard

A postally unused Real Photo Series carte postale that was published by C. A. P. of Strasbourg. The card has a divided back.

Pau and its Château

The Château de Pau is located in the centre of the city of Pau, the capital of Pyrénées-Atlantiques and Béarn. It dominates that quarter of the city.

Henry IV of France and Navarre was born here on the 13th.  December 1553.

The Belle Époque marked a resurgence for the Béarnaise capital, with a massive influx of wealthy foreign tourists, who came to spend the winter to take advantage of the benefits of Pau's climate. 

It was at this time that Pau became one of the world capitals of the nascent aerospace industry under the influence of the Wright brothers.

The château was once used by Napoleon as a holiday home during his period of power.

The château was classified as a Monument Historique in 1840 by the French Ministry of Culture. It contains a collection of notable tapestries.

 Ernest Gabard

Ernest Gabard was a French artist and sculptor who was born in Pau on the 19th. May 1879. At a young age, he had the misfortune of losing both his parents, and was raised by an uncle and aunt. His talents for the arts showed early, and at age 17 he joined the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris.

He gained experience working in the studio of Jules Thomas and also attended the studio of sculptor Auguste Rodin, but at the end of his apprenticeship, disappointed by the Parisian art world, he chose to return his native Béarn. 

Léon Bérard, said of him in 1954: 

"Gabard departs from the classical type of 
sculptor. He wanted to be a “Sculptor of Pau,”
and his work bears the stamp of the land."

Ernest practised drawing, painting in watercolour, wood carving, and sculpting in stone and marble. Many of his works are located in Béarn and other parts of France’s Southwest.

Ernest also created a popular comic book character, Caddetou, who was always portrayed wearing a beret, blouse, sabots (wooden shoes) and carrying an umbrella.

After the Great War, he worked on numerous monuments in order to commemorate the dead, some of whom had been his comrades when he was on active service during the war. Ernest also created a beautiful small notebook of 42 watercolours, portraying life on the Western Front.

Ernest Gabard and Aviation

Ernest was also passionate about aviation, and he produced posters, statues, cups and trophies relating to the nascent industry.

Gabard designed the Schneider Trophy in 1911-1912. This trophy, which is formally known as the Jacques Schneider Air Racing Trophy for Hydro-Aeroplanes, was offered in 1913 in order to encourage the development of marine aviation by the Jacques Schneider armaments works. 

The trophy is a silver plated casting mounted on a marble base showing the Spirit of Flight kissing the waves. 

It became the outright property of the Royal Aero Club after a third British win in 1931. In 1977 the trophy was donated to the Science Museum, London.

Ernest Gabard died at the age of 77 on the 7th. April 1957.

Taken on: October 23, 2023

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Sets appears in: • Biographies • France

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