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Bordeaux Exposition of 1895

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Bordeaux Exposition of 1895

The Bordeaux Exposition of 1895 [L’Exposition de Bordeaux] was the thirteenth of its kind organized by the Philomathic Society of Bordeaux. It opened on May 1 and took place on the Place des Quinconces, it included exhibits for education, fine arts, industry, agriculture, electricity, and social sciences. There were 10,064 exhibitors, including 302 from the colonies. International exhibitors include England, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Portugal, Algeria, and the French colonies.

The Lion exhibit at the Bordeaux Exposition won the Grand Prix, as attested in one of Lion’s souvenir booklets at later exposition. Unfortunately, I have thus far not been able to locate any pictures of the Lion pavilion, although I continue to look for them. However, the official Journal of the Exposition, which was published every Sunday by the Philomathic Society, included an extensive article about the Maternité Lion by Louis Énault, including illustrations.

“PARTIAL VIEW OF A NURSERY. — FORCE-FEEDING VIA THE NOSE, WITH A SPOON.”

“‘I’m only interested in children from the age of sixteen,’ says the skeptic, who doesn’t care about the genesis of humanity. His heart of marble would have softened if it had been able to see, like us, at the Bordeaux Exhibition, this incubator of children, constantly surrounded by a sympathetic crowd, which contemplates with sincere and grateful emotion a masterpiece. a work of ingenuity, born of a generous inspiration, and whose author Mr. Lion, must be ranked among the benefactors of humanity. I won’t surprise anyone when I say that this is one of the great successes of the Exhibition, and the objective of all those who see the coming of the great ordeals of motherhood with a sweet emotion.”

Specialists dedicated to the care required during early infancy are well aware of the dangers that threaten it. In this regard, the statistics are alarming. One hundred and fifty thousand children are born prematurely every year; and among those who have completed their full term—cradled in the gentle warmth of the maternal womb—fifty thousand are, at birth, of such frailty that they lack the strength to survive. Thus, two hundred thousand children each year are fatally doomed to death, unless the effective intervention of science and selfless dedication steps in to supplement nature.

It is well known that cold is the greatest—indeed, the most terrible—enemy of newborns. The severity, and perhaps even more so the irregularity, of the ambient temperature claim the lives of these tiny beings, whose delicate organs—still in the process of formation—require infinite care. Mr. Lion, whose courage and perseverance overcame these initial difficulties—obstacles that would have been insurmountable for anyone lacking his energy and willpower—has succeeded in creating for these little ones the artificial environment that is indispensable to their survival. A curious fact: this work of social charity is also a work of art—and it is perhaps to this quality that, within an elegant exhibition such as the one in Bordeaux, it owes a portion of its success.

One goes to see—not merely out of charitable interest, but for the sheer pleasure of it—this utterly charming installation. One pauses before these little glass-enclosed booths, where those who may one day become Marshals of France stand their first watch within a dainty, cushioned cradle—suspended like a hammock or a nest—where strength comes to them effortlessly as they savor the rest and comfort of that vegetative life which, for us, constitutes the earliest form of existence. Before this incubator of infants—where Mr. Lion shows us not cardboard dolls, but actual living babies—young mothers burst into joyful exclamations. They marvel at these tiny cherubs, three of whom must join forces just to tip the scales at two kilograms; they grow tender-hearted before these fresh, rosy little faces—so cute, no bigger than those summer apples known as “pigeon-hearts”—with a nascent smile hovering upon their forming lips, and, beneath their eyelids, that luminous glint of the eye that gazes out vaguely, unsure if it truly sees you; and those hands of a Cupid, dimpled and with tapering fingers, already reaching out to grasp! I tell you, it is a truly delightful scene! …

— P. 29-30, “L’Exposition Bordeaux,” by Louis Énault, published by the Philomathic Society.

Examples of the contemporary press coverage below:

Source: L’Éclair, Sept. 17, 1895
Source: La Gironde, September 25, 1895.

Below: A map of the exposition. Most likely Lion’s’ exhibit was in the area marked “P” for “Specialized Pavilons,” as that is where his exhibit was located in the subsequent 1907 Bordeaux International Maritime Exposition.

Last Updated on 05/11/26