TUSSAUD, Madame Marie, née Gresholtz, Swiss/French/UK wax modeller, 1761-1850. Initially she had worked for an uncle at the Palais Royale Theatre in Paris. Marie inherited the collection from this uncle who had taught her the technology. During the French Revolution she was forced to take death masks of the more important victims, after their execution. Some of these victims were her personal friends. After an unhappy marriage, she emigrated to England in 1800. Then from 1802 she toured the British Isles with her show for 33 years. After this it was resident in London, at first in the Lyceum then in Blackheath and finally in Baker St. Marie kept the trade secrets of wax usage within the family. After her death,  the family continued the business, until 1925 when the exhibition was destroyed by fire. They managed to reopen it in 1928.

Wax Modeller