Letting the Animal out of the Bag

I'd love to entitle this 'Letting the Cat out of the Bag', but I'm not so sure it is a cat... You'll have to let me know what you think...
j
To begin at the beginning, we have to go back to the 19080s, when some thrifting member of my family bought this plastic bag. Inside were a number of partially completed hexagonal patchwork pieces.

I wasn't over enthused by the fabrics used, but of course, I kept the bag!

Since rediscovering it last year, I have become quite fond of some of the patterns and fabrics - tastes change, after all.

This one is certainly rather 'me'.Don't know what the original crafter was doing here...Also inside were plenty more pieces of prepared fabric, plus lots of strong waxed paper which I've been using for my own patchwork. I've used the large piece of blue flowered fabric which matches those hexagons on the bottom left, too.A useful little hexagon shape and an ephemeral clue to when the shapes were cut out!And finally, inside a second plastic bag which I'd never opened before, yesterday I found two useful reels of thread and this little animal. She is easy to date - did you see Sarah Jane Down the Lane and her lovely '70s sepia tones yesterday? But what kind of animal is she? She has whiskers and her ears are most unlike those of a mouse... What do you think she is, dear readers?

The denouement????

If you've popped in for the first time today, you need to know that we started the day with a bit of a mystery, based on a vintage photo I bought on Friday. Follow the thread of the story here if you want the background...Now, the above lady is Mlle. Desclauzas. She was born in 1840, and had a very sweet, light mezzo-soprano voice. She rose to great popularity in character roles for comic opera (opéra-bouffe) in both France and America. A lot of my best results from Google searches for her come from the New York Times Archive pages - what a wonderful resource!Here she is (above) in one of her film roles. Early reviews describe her as 'a verry pretty woman' (yes, that's the NYT spelling) with a 'deliciously fresh' voice. Later on she is described in her comic character roles as 'very jolly', although I did find one unfortunate review when she had lost her voice on the night of the performance!Now to my mystery photo. The name 'Desclauzas' is all over the photo, but apparantly this woman is Madame Harles. She has a vague similarity to the famous singer, but lacks her pert little nose and chirpy expression, in my opinion.This, then, is my conclusion, but I will be really interested to see if any of you come up with alternative theories:

*

Mlle. Descaluzas was popular, in the way that Music Hall stars were in the UK at this time. Her famous roles are still called 'the Desclauzas roles' - I found a lovely write-up of a woman who still specialises in these roles today (very pretty!).

*

There was no TV and people 'made their own entertainment' back in those days! Therefore, I assume we're looking at the evidence of an early 'lookalike/soundalike' event, where the Municipal Theatre of Valence put on an event, maybe a comptition, at least twice. Women who could sing (and perhaps look) like Mlle. Desclauzas, came along in their best dresses, performed, got their photos taken, and maybe won a prize. Who knows? But that seems reasonable, although Google can't give me any evidence of it.

*

Alternative 'denouements' welcome! (I never knew until I got to France that this word literally means 'unknotting', but that's a good word for the resolution of a mystery, isn't it?)

A French Detective Story, Starring... Us!

I showed this theatre photo the other day - I bought it from a Vide Greniers on Friday.
So now it's time to 'Cherchez la femme', and find out who this fine lady is....
I've done a little internet research and tried to make some deductions, but it's all very uncertain, so I'm asking for your help...Either using your femenine intuition, or Google (you choose!), do you have any suggestions that make sense of the tantalising clues I have discovered?Clue 1: The writing across the top says: 'Deuxieme Desclauzas des 1iere' (Second Desclauzas of the/from the First) - well, there's an enigmatic clue...

Clue 2: The handwritten writing below the photo says: 'Me. Harles, 2ime Desclauzas des 1iere' , which means that this is Madame Harles.

Clue 3: The printed label at the base of the photo says: 'Theatre Municipal de Valence'.

Research so far has turned up these photos below of Marie Desclauzas (1840-1922). She was a singer in French popular opera, but became popular in the States too.Look at the noses. My photo is not the same woman, is it?

Please tell me what you think is going on...

Further clues might be found on the back of the photo, so here it is:Very pretty...But fairly mysterious...