Important French Paper Mache Poupee in Original Costume with Provenance
Lot #47
28" (71 cm.) h. doll. 37" with coronet and pedestal. Solid domed paper mache shoulderhead with oval face and strong elongated throat, black enamel eyes, all-around painted delicate lashes, feathered brows, accented nostrils of aquiline nose, closed mouth, brunette human hair over black painted pate, shapely kid poupee body with gusset jointing at elbows, hips and knees. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: French, circa 1848, the doll is wearing outstanding original costume comprising original homespun undergarments under an ivory silk gown embroidered and fringed with gold metallic threads, blue silk robe with silver metallic trim, and veil of fine tulle with exquisite floral wreath embroidery which is surmounted by a metal coronet decorated with twelve metal stars centered by prismatic glass centers. She carries a silver rosary and a gilt-framed reliquary. The doll is mounted upon her original wooden base shaped as a celestial globe on which is painted a symbolic serpent. Value Points: important early doll illustrates the evolution of paper mache poupee from statuary to doll, and is preserved here in remarkable original condition, along with provenance. Along with the doll is included a 1987 article from a Musee Roybet-Fould publication concerning the doll. Historical background: In 1846, in the little village of La Salette in the French Alps, two small children, Maximin and Melanie, had been tending the family cows on the mountainside before returning home to tell of an apparition that had appeared to them. It was a woman in silk robes with high circled solar-type headdress that had sat weeping on the mountainside, and after delivering a message to them, simply faded away. Controversy ensued, an investigation was underway, and finally in 1851, the Church declared Our Lady of La Salette was a true revelation with her message of hope and reconciliation. Her image, as described by the children, was thereafter presented in paintings, bronze sculptures and even, as in this case, in doll form, in elaborate costume which some credited to the work of the regional artist Esperance Bosca (born 1818) while others have said simply "a local craftsman". This particular doll remained in its original family home in Perpignan from the mid-1800s until it came in the late 1900s to the Musee Roybet-Fould in Courbevoie near Paris. Later it was deaccessioned by the Museum, and in 2007 was auctioned by Theriault’s to the caring hands of a private collector where it has remained until now.
