"Micaela Almonester de Pontalba visits Creole New Orleans in 1830"

"Micaela Almonester de Pontalba visits Creole New Orleans in 1830"

My latest Masterpiece is tilted "Micaela Almonester de Pontalba visits Creole New Orleans in 1830". It depicts Micaela Leonarda Antonia Almonester y Rojas, Baroness de Pontalba (November 6, 1795- April 20, 1874) a wealthy New Orleans-born Creole aristocrat, businesswoman, and real estate developer, and one of the most dynamic personalities of that city's history. Micaela is depicted in the latest fashion from Paris, walking down the flagstone sidewalk in front of a New Orleans Greek Revival house of a New Orleans mix race couple and child. On the flagstone sidewalk is a small a French Olive jar next to a miniature banana tree. And a Neoclassical wrought iron gated carriage passage known as a porte-cochère in New Orleans, connected the street to a rear courtyard. Over her head on a Neoclassical cast iron balcony, a white Creole father holding a Times-Picayune newspaper next to his mix race son with potted lemon and orange trees on the balcony. Below the Free woman of color mother looks out a open window holding a palm fan. 

Micaela Almonester de Pontalba visited New Orleans two times after her arranged marriage in 1811 to her 20-year-old cousin, Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba, known as Celestin or "Tin Tin". Micaela was 15 at the time of her marriage. She traveled to New Orleans in 1830 and 1848, both years of Revolutions in France as well as with her husband family with a series of lawsuits against her.  In 1830, without her husband's permission, she went to New Orleans for an extended visit, taking the opportunity to travel around other parts of the United States. She stopped in Washington DC where President Andrew Jackson sent his own carriage and secretary of state Martin Van Buren to bring her to the White House as his guest. The celebrated Battle of New Orleans in which Jackson had defeated the invading British on 8 January 1815 had been fought on the grounds of the Chalmette Plantation belonging to her uncle and aunt. Upon her return to France the baron accused her of deserting Célestin; as a result she became a "virtual prisoner" of the de Pontalbas. In frustration, she took her children and transferred back to Paris where she began a series of lawsuits to obtain a separation from Célestin, but lost them due to the strict French marriage laws.

Micaela Baroness de Pontalba was perhaps the most interesting historical woman from New Orleans and one of the most dynamic personalities of that city's history. My association with the Micaela Baroness de Pontalba is I worked in the 1850 House Museum on Jackson Square. Two Summers ago I visited Mont-l'Évêque the moated, medieval de Pontalba chateau outside Senlis which was about 50 miles from Paris, still lived in by the Pontalba family. Micaela was born in New Orleans in November 6, 1795. Her mother a French Creole was Louise Denis de la Ronde a member of one of the most illustrious Creole families in Louisiana.. Her Spanish father, Andrés Almonester y Rojas was a Spanish civil servant of New Orleans.

 "an office rich in salary, perquisites, and business opportunities. He soon acquired wealth in it, or through it." Among his investments was a large tract of land downtown, purchased from Governor O'Reilly on perpetual lease. Upon the death of her Spanish father, Andrés Almonester y Rojas in 1798, Micaela, as his only surviving child, inherited a considerable fortune; although the estate was controlled by her mother, Louise Denis de la Ronde. Being the sole heiress to a considerable fortune, Micaela was likely the richest girl in the city of New Orleans if not the state of Louisiana. Following her marriage in 1811 to her French cousin, Xavier Célestin Delfau de Pontalba, she moved to France. The marriage was not successful and she became a virtual prisoner at the de Pontalba chateau near Senlis. 

Having failed to gain possession of her entire inheritance, her father-in-law, Baron de Pontalba shot her four times at point-blank range with a pair of dueling pistols and then committed suicide. She survived the attack, although her left breast and two of her fingers were mutilated by gunfire. Her husband, Cèlestin succeeded his father as baron, and Micaela was henceforth styled Baroness de Pontalba. She eventually obtained a legal separation from him. Micaela was responsible for the design and construction of the famous Pontalba Buildings in Jackson Square, in the heart of the French Quarter. In 1855, she built the Hôtel de Pontalba in Paris, where she lived until her death in 1874. Her life was worthy of an operatic plot, and eventually became one: Pontalba: a Louisiana Legacy, composed by Thea Musgrave. A play by Diana E.H. Shortes entitled The Baroness Undressed, and several novels, are also based on her dramatic life.

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1850 House Museum reopening Ceremony

A six-piece bedroom suite, comprising a large half-tester bed, a duchesse or dressing table, two mirror-faced armoires, a washstand and a nightstand. Attributed to the warerooms of Prudent Mallard and made for Mrs. Magin Puig of 624 Royal.

A few days ago I attended the reopening of the 1850 House Museum ceremony. After a mold outbreak forced its closure in August, the Louisiana State Museum reopen its 1850 House attraction in the French Quarter.

The State Museum system mark the end of the nine-month hiatus with a grand reopening ceremony Tuesday (May 3) at 10:30 a.m. at the Lower Pontalba building.

A malfunctioning air-conditioning system spread mold spores through several sections of the 3,600 square-foot apartment, leading mold to colonize artifacts in the museum, which serves as a showcase for hundreds of antebellum antiques and pieces of artwork. After shutting down the attraction Aug. 3 to begin a remediation and cleanup, the State Museum system had planned to reopen it at the end of the month.

The 1850 House doesn’t represent any single family’s house, rather, it reflects mid-19th century prosperity, taste and daily life in New Orleans. The house is furnished with art and décor that speak to that era as well, including a set of  John Slidell’s china, Old Paris porcelain, New Orleans coin silver and dozens of notable paintings and furnishings that, taken as a whole, transport you back in time.

The 1850 House is part of the Lower Pontalba building. Standing on opposite sides of Jackson Square, the Upper and Lower Pontalba buildings were designed and financed by the Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba. Her father, Don Andrés Almonester y Roxas, was a Spanish colonial landowner who helped finance The Cabildo, St. Louis Cathedral and The Presbytère.

The Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba.

A 1830's portrait of a Creole 

The Louisiana State Museum's 1850 House is an antebellum row house furnished to represent life in mid-nineteenth-century New Orleans. It is located at 523 St. Ann Street on Jackson Square in the French Quarter.

The Upper and Lower Pontalba Buildings, which line the St. Ann and St. Peter Street sides of Jackson Square, were built in 1850 by the Baroness Micaela Almonester de Pontalba, the daughter of Don Andres Almonester y Roxas, the Spanish colonial landowner associated with the neighboring Cabildo, Cathedral and Presbytere. Inspired by the imposing Parisian architecture the Baroness favored, the distinctive rowhouses were intended to serve as both elegant residences and fine retail establishments.

In 1921 the Pontalba family sold the Lower Pontalba Building to philanthropist William Ratcliff Irby who subsequently, in 1927, bequeathed it to the State Museum.

Baroness Pontalba engaged noted local architect James Gallier, Sr. to design the row houses, though she dismissed him before construction was begun, and she employed Samuel Stewart as the builder. She also convinced authorities to renovate the Square, Cabildo and Presbytere, and church authorities to enlarge the Cathedral.

When the Pontalba buildings were completed in 1849 and 1851, each contained sixteen separate houses on the upper floors and self-contained shops on the ground floors. The "A and P" monograms that decorate the cast-iron railings signify the Almonaster and Pontalba families.

During the mid-19th century, the first floor of the Pontalba buildings housed businesses, including dry goods stores, clothing stores, law offices and even a bank and railroad company. Upstairs are the parlor, dining room and three bedrooms. The house also comprises a back wing (called the "kitchen building" in the builder's contract), which served a variety of purposes, including storage, additional workspace and housing for slaves or servants.

City directories from the 1850s and the 1860 census show that many Pontalba heads of household were merchants who were affluent enough to afford to rent in one of New Orleans's most fashionable locations. Children, slaves and servants completed the Pontalba household. An average of nine residents occupied each dwelling.

A six-piece bedroom suite, comprising a large half-tester bed, a duchesse or dressing table, two mirror-faced armoires, a washstand and a nightstand. Attributed to the warerooms of Prudent Mallard and made for Mrs. Magin Puig of 624 Royal depicted in the portrait over the mantel.

Members of the Soria family were merchants who came to New Orleans from New York to take advantage of the vast economic opportunities here. Like the majority of Pontalba residents, the Sorias were slave owners, their slaves numbering between five and eight.

Widow Amelia Zacharie Saul Cammack lived in the house with her son, Thomas Dixon Cammack, and three of her four daughters, Gertrude, Kate and Amelia. The family owned between three and seven slaves during their Pontalba residency. The arrangement of the living quarters roughly corresponds to the way the Cammacks lived from 1853 to 1856.

William G. Hewes moved here in 1856 with his two daughters, Caroline and Anna, and five slaves. Hewes was president both of a bank and of the New Orleans, Opelousas and Great Western Railroad.

The Louisiana State Museum took possession of the building in 1927 and opened the 1850 House to the public in 1948. To illustrate the landmark's historical significance, the State Museum has re-created what one of the residences would have looked like during the Antebellum era when the Baroness Pontalba first opened her doors. Faithfully furnished with domestic goods, decorative arts and art of the period, the 1850 House depicts middle-class family life during the most prosperous period in New Orleans' history. Limited docent- and curator-led tours are available as is self-directed viewing.

Because residents of this row house were tenants who lived here for a few years at a time, the 1850 House does not represent any single family. Rather it reflects mid-nineteenth-century prosperity, taste, and daily life in New Orleans. Some pieces have a history of ownership in Louisiana, while local furniture shops made or sold others. The house comprises several revival styles that were popular in the 1850s, including rococo revival, Gothic revival, and classical revival.

Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser

Inspired by the imposing Parisian architecture the Baroness favored, the distinctive rowhouses were intended to serve as both elegant residences and retail establishments. In 1921, the Pontalba family sold the Lower Pontalba Building to philanthropist William Ratcliffe Irby, who bequeathed it to the Louisiana State Museum in 1927.

The "A and P" monograms that decorate the cast-iron railings signify the Almonaster and Pontalba families.

The tops of the copper downspouts were plated with 24k gold 

The lady about was married to Samuel Stewart's many great grandsons. She donated the portraits of Samuel Stewart and his wife to the 1850 House.   

A portrait of Samuel Stewart. Baroness Pontalba employed Samuel Stewart as the builder. 

Ribbon cutting ceremony