One of the most famous and talked about fortunes in the modern age is of course that of the Rothschild family. It began in the 1700s when Mayer Amschel Rothschild sent his five sons away from his self-made financial house to five different financial capitols of the world to grow the business.
Since then, the wealth of the family has been steadily declining, but was clearly still fruitful around 1972. The family’s wealth is evident in these vintage photos of one of the strange occult parties thrown by Baron Guy de Rothschild and his wife Marie-Hélène de Rothschild at their mansion, Château de Ferrières in France. We may never know exactly what was going on here (or even want to know).
Eyes Wide Shut looks like child’s play, now.
Here are the hosts, Guy and Marie-Hélène Rothschild, setting the tone of dress for the evening. The mansion had remained empty until they decided to refurbish it to throw these occult parties.
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When a party at the Château de Ferrières was going down, the mansion would be lit up a bright orange. The house looked as if it was on fire.
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Lovely dining set…
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Ole Sky Face and the Tinsel Queen.
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These hats have got to be a strain on the neck, right?
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Guy and Marie-Hélène were heavily influenced by surrealist art, which shows in the decor of the mansion and the costumes of their guests.
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These look like the people on David Bowie’s emergency contact list.
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The Rothschild’s help were in decidedly normal attire, which seems like a missed opportunity.
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A costumed homage to the famous surrealist painting, The Son of Man by René Magritte.
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I have no idea if you’re supposed to actually eat off this thing, but I’d advise you not to.
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This piece is called, “Two turtles hugging in poo,” or something like that.
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Turn up.
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I can’t tell if this is a hat or this woman just had an accident in the backyard?
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Here is famous surrealist painter, Salvador Dali. The Rothschild parties would attract many celebrities like Brigitte Bardot, Grace Kelly and Audrey Hepburn.
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Guy de Rothschild’s multi-faced hat had everyone’s attention at the party.
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Here is the invitation to the night’s festivities. Guests can only view it with the help of a mirror.
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Dinner is served!
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The blood and cut marks around the neck of the naked mannequin is a nice, and very disturbing touch.
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Marie-Hélène’s oversized deer head had jeweled eyes that were weeping diamonds.
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These images of the surreal costume party were reportedly taken by one of the party’s attendees, Alexis von Rosenberg. He was also known as the Baron de Redé, a prominent French banker who was close friends with the host of the ball, Marie-Hélène de Rothschild.
The next time you don’t get invited to a cool party, don’t despair. You may have just avoided one completely bizarre evening, fueled by wealth and boredom.
