'Le ballet des abeilles'

A carte-de-visite portrait of an unidentified dancer, seen here in the costume she wore in Le ballet des abeilles [The Ballet of the Bees]. The production, which is identified by an inked inscription verso in a period hand, was performed at the Tuileries as part of a costume ball thrown by the Empress Eugénie. An engraving of the event shows a circle of twelve female dancers, all wearing the same costume as the one seen in this portrait, surrounded by costumed guests in a packed room.

Photographed by Disdéri of Paris.