Madame Tussauds

Madame Tussauds is a wax museum in London, with branches in Amsterdam, Hong Kong (Victoria Peak), Las Vegas and New York City. It was set up by Marie Tussaud who was a wax sculptor.

Madame Tussaud (1761-1850), born Marie Grosholtz in Strasbourg, worked as a housekeeper for Dr. Philippe Curtius, a physician skilled in wax modelling. Curtius taught Tussaud the art of wax modelling. In 1765, Curtius made a waxwork of Marie Jean du Barry, Louis XV’s mistress. A cast of that mould is the oldest work currently on display.

The first exhibition of Curtius’ waxworks was shown in 1770, and attracted a large audience. The exhibition moved to the Palais Royal in Paris in 1776. He opened a second location on Boulevard du Temple in 1782, the “Caverne des Grands Voleurs”, a precursor to the later Chamber of Horrors.