'Sommités (Dames)'

The word ‘sommité’ literally translates as ‘summit’ or ‘mountain top’ but is often used figuratively, as in the phrase ‘sommités de l’art’ meaning ‘leading figures, persons of influence, in the world of art.’ Those sitter listed in this category in Disdéri’s catalogue No. 5 (dated March 1861) come from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines and include historians, journalists, senators, French and British nobility, foreign ambassadors, doctors (Nélaton) and one engineer (Lesseps). Painters are listed in a separate category of their own, as are ‘artistes dramatiques’ [actors, singers and dancers.] Writers, authors and composers are also grouped together in their own category.

The theme of this particular collage is female celebrities from this section of the catalogue, so presumably there was a pendant carte showing male sitters from the same category. Some of the most easily recognizable include the Empress Eugénie, her mother, and her sister (all in the top row), Princesses Clothilde and Mathilde (also in the top row), Princess Anne Murat (next row down), Princess Pauline de Metternich (third row, far right), Princess Gabrielli Bonaparte (with a Greek key on her sleeve), Queen Maria Cristina of Spain (immediately below her), Grand Duchess Marie of Russia (just below the centre of the image), the Duchess of Sutherland (same row), the duchesse de Morny (immediately below her), the princesse de Sohms (next to her, wearing a tiara), and Doña Josepha Fernanda de Borbón (at seven o’clock from Grand Duchess Marie of Russia).