At 18, she answered an advertisement in a Dutch newspaper placed by a man looking for a wife. Margaretha married Dutch Colonial Army officer Rudolf John MacLeod (1 March 1856, Heukelum - 9 January 1928, Velp) in Amsterdam on 11 July 1895. He was the son of John Brienen MacLeod and Dina Louisa Frijherrine Sweerts de Landas. They moved to Java in the Dutch East Indies and had two children, Norman-John (30 January 1897, Amsterdam - 27 June 1899) and Jeanne-Louise (2 May 1898, Java - 10 August 1919).
The marriage was an overall disappointment MacLeod was a violent alcoholic who would take out his frustrations on his wife, who was half his age, and whom he blamed for his lack of promotion. He also openly kept both a native wife and a concubine. The disenchanted Margaretha abandoned him temporarily, moving in with Van Rheedes, another Dutch officer. For months, she studied the Indonesian traditions intensively, joining a local dance company. In 1897, she revealed her artistic name: Mata Hari, Indonesian for "sun" (literally, "eye of the day"), via correspondence to her relatives in Holland (wickipedia)
An exotic entertainer, spy, courtesan, performer. a women of mystery which was she? You decide. From a distance it all sounds intriguing. Mata Hari took on this name to perform dance and it soon became her persona. She left her husband an alcoholic and made a living for herself in a time when women didn't work.
This piece is inspired by a women who reinvented herself and some would say lived a life of adventure. She wore ornate jewelry when she performed and posed for pictures. Add some mystery your life and wear this piece to make them wonder...
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