François-Henri Lavanchy-Clarke

The arrival of King Rama V, the king of Siam, in Switzerland.

A city view, rich in movement, shot at the corner of the Schauplatzgasse in Bern.

Playful ramblers carrying Sunlight placards in a cow pasture in the Jura (Canton of Vaud). The respectable gentleman is none other than William Whiteley (1831-1907), founder of London’s first department store. Is this a home movie or advertising for the launch of the Sunlight Helvetia soap factory (Olten, 12 October 1898)? Maybe both.

A battalion, preceded by three riders and a military marching band, parades in front of the crowd. A man is manoeuvring a handcart bearing the inscription "Sunlight Soap" in the foreground.

First pageant celebrating the opening of the Swiss National Museum.

Children’s performance in Ukrainian costume in the garden of the Villa du Méridien in Cannes, next to Lavanchy-Clarke’s Villa Belle Rive. In 1904, Russian officers wounded in the war with Japan were convalescing in Cannes.

Scene filmed in the town of St. Gallen.

Swiss Army gunners practicing.

Near a chalet in a cow pasture in the Jura, at Frohburg (Canton of Solothurn), Jenny Lavanchy-Clarke and her children Christine, Henri, and Bertha watch three lively pairs of boys doing an imitation of the lutte à la culotte (traditional Swiss wrestling). There is even a referee, stick in hand, and a judge noting the score.

Two young girls in Ukrainian costume perform a dance near a palm tree in a garden.

Three men are chopping and transporting firewood, among passers-by, on a square in Lausanne.

A battery being set up.

The bear is the emblem of Bern, and the pit that used to house several of the animals was the most common motif in representations of the city, as well as a central tourist attraction.

First part of a series documenting the Basel carnival.

Fourth part of a series documenting the Basel carnival.

Second pageant for the opening of the Swiss National Museum.

Advertising in the center of St. Gallen.

Annual pageant commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Morat, the victory in 1476 of the Swiss Confederates over the Duke of Burgundy. The family of Emile Lavanchy watches the event from the left.

A children’s procession that is part of the Maienzug, a festival solemnly marking the end of the school year in Aarau.

View from a funicular train in the Montreux region.