Rare French Bisque Bebe by Pierre-Victor Clement with Deposed Hollow Leather Body
Lot #73
17" (43 cm.) Pressed bisque socket head with very distinctive portrait-like expression, blue glass spiral-threaded eyes, dark eyeliner, painted lashes, mauve-blushed eye shadow and cheek and chin blush, aquiline-shaped nose with shaded nostrils, closed mouth, outlined lips, impressed dimples at lip corners, pierced ears, original blonde mohair wig over cork pate, molded hollow ("blown") leather body in classic bebe proportions with dowel jointing at shoulders, elbows, side hips and side knees, well-defined fingers and toes. Condition: generally excellent, a very fine nearly imperceptible 1" line at forehead rim (under wig, appears original), leather dent in torso, original body finish. Comments: Pierre-Victor Clement, who deposed the body for his hollow-leather body poupee in 1867; the body for this bebe model is constructed in the same method as the poupee body only having childlike proportions rather than the taller and more slender lady body. Clement, a shoemaker by original trade, conceived the idea of creating a "blown out" or hollow leather doll body, created in a manner similar to shoe design Circa 1875. Value Points: extremely rare, no other bebe model from Clement is known to exist, and having stunningly beautiful bisque face, the doll is preserved in an early wooden box along with an assortment of her original handmade costumes of the mid/late 1870s comprising two dresses, two jackets, three bonnets, two pairs of shoes (one pair signed C.C., one pair stamped G), night shift and split-leg drawers. Included is a French salon chair with tufted silk seat.
