Oriental Tarot / Tarocchi Foudraz, Giordano Berti

Philippe

Marie Sabine Riond, Claude Foudraz's wife, died on 22 May 1855 in Lanslevillard.

22-5-1855 décès de Marie sabine Riond Lanslevillard by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

She couldn't assist the wedding of her daughter Marguerite Antoinette born in Torino circa 1831 with Jean François Joseph Creux from Fontainemore (Valle d'Aosta)
Mariage Creux Foudraz Lanslevillard 1856 by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

So, who was this man?

He was primarily the elder of (at least) three brothers, all three became lithographers :

- Claude (4 February 1802-deceased before August 1853) active in Torino. Apparently no male descendant.

- Jean Baptiste Sébastien (1er Nivose An XII or 23 December 1803 Bessans - 23 October 1873). Active first in Marseille (place du cul-de-boeuf) then from 1854 in Chambéry (10 rue Croix-d'Or). His wife's name Cayol is clearly from Provence rather than from Savoy. Both the newspaper's adverts dated 1857 & 1864 that I've posted previously are concerning him. He had 2 sons : Désiré Marie born in Marseille and married in Chambéry and Auguste born in Marseille. Both work with him and succeed him.

1 Nivose an XII-23 Déc. 1803 naissance de Jean Baptiste Sébastien Foudraz frère de Claude Foudraz by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

2-9-1838 Marseille naissance Désiré Foudraz by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

15-6-1869 Chambéry mariage Désiré Foudraz + Paillasson by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

-Pierre Jean Baptiste (18 May 1815 Bessans - still unknown to me). Active in Marseille, Residing at Rue cannebière n°91. Wife from the Dévoluy. We learn thanks to his marriage certificate on the 22 September 1840 in Marseille that Sébastien, the father of the three brothers, died on the 30 August 1834 and was indeed a farmer.

Mai 1815 Bessans Naissance de Pierre Jean Baptiste Foudraz by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

22-9-1840 mariage PJB Foudraz + Girard Marseille 1 by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

22-9-1840 mariage PJB Foudraz + Girard Marseille 2 by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

How did the three sons of a peasant from a remote village in the Alps on the italian border come to learn the art of lithography, that's a question I still cannot answer. Until now I've found nobody in their early environment who could explain this.
 

Philippe

Like the three musketeers they were four...

I've found a fourth brother, lithographer like the three others, but this one active in Lyon Rue Grenette. Pierre Michel Foudraz was born in Bessans on 19 September 1810 and got married in Lyon on 16 November 1833. Among the four groomsmen, all lithographers alike, 2 are the cousins of the bridegroom : Sébastien Clappier 35 yo Rue Neuve & Michel Maurice Clappier 33 yo Rue des Tables Claudiennes.

16-11-1833 Mariage Pierre-Michel Foudras né Bessans le 19-9-1810 et Carle Lyon A by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

16-11-1833 Mariage Pierre-Michel Foudras né Bessans le 19-9-1810 et Carle Lyon B témoins ts lithographes by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr
 

Philippe

Tracking the records of the Clappier cousins who were 10 years older than Pierre Michel Foudraz, I've found three marriages during the 1820's, and in 2 cases OUR Claude Foudraz who was by that time established in Lyon is the bestman.

-12 May 1824 Marriage of Sébastien Clappier born in Bessans on 28 February 1797 from Jean-Baptiste Clappier (a farmer and Claude Foudraz' uncle) & Anne Baptiste Cima, lithographer Rue Tupin.
At that time Claude Foudraz is "fabricant d'étoffes" = fabrics manufacturer Rue Grolée. You can see his signature besides the red arrow.

12-5-1824 Mariage Sébastien Clappier by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

12-5-1824 Mariage Sébastien Clappier signature Claude Foudraz cousin fl by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr
 

Philippe

Another cousin's marriage on 3 April 1826. This time it's Michel Maurice Clappier's turn. Born in Bessans on 18 October 1800 he is a lithographer at Rue St Polycarpe. But in 1826 Claude Foudraz, 24 yo as the marriage certificate rightly mentions it, has changed direction and now works as a lithographer Rue Neuve.

3-4-1826 Clappier Perachon by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

3-4-1826 mariage Michel Maurice Clappier & Perachon B Claude Foudraz témoin lithographe Rue Neuve fl by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr


In 1826 Sébastien Clappier is a widower. A second marriage teaches us that Sébastien Jean Baptiste Foudraz (later active in Marseille then Chambéry as previously explained) works as a lithographer Rue Neuve, probably together with his brother Claude.

13-11-1826 mariage sébastien Clappier canet 2 témoin Sébastien Jean-Baptiste Foudraz lithographe rue neuve à Lyon by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr
 

Philippe

Claude Foudraz certainly learnt his art at Lyon from his Clappier & Termignon cousins who were slightly older than him, after which he went to Turin. But contrary to his cousins he married a woman from his native area surroundings.

We can also notice that Lyon is the town of Pillement, famous for his Chinoiseries, who died there Rue des deux angles (now Rue Alsace Lorraine) on 25 April 1808. By the end of his life he was out of fashion and gave painting lessons in order to survive. It is not impossible that Foudraz may have met one of his pupils in Lyon.

www.google.fr/search?q=pillement&ne...0OfPAhWnLcAKHQ24BKEQ_AUICCgB&biw=1600&bih=742

And finally a strange case of synchronicity. The earliest presence of a Foudraz of Bessans in Lyon traces back to 1772 when Sébastien Foudraz domestic worker got married to Jeanne Marie Madignier a servant from Orliénas, a village 17 kms from Lyon. And to this Magdinier family from Orliénas belongs Pierre Madenié, engraver of a well-known historical tarot (Dijon 1709).

23-2-1772 Sebastien Foudras + Marie Magdinier by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr

2dMad by PhilBeDaN, sur Flickr
 

Le Fanu

Thank you for unveiling this wonderful story for us, Philippe. All of this is so fascinating. And to think there's a connection between Foudraz and the Madenié family!
 

Philippe