#141

French Bisque "Bebe Phonographe" by Emile Jumeau, Original "Flap" Couturier Dress
Live Auction

$7,000
sold
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Description
24" (61 cm.) Bisque socket head, blue glass paperweight inset eyes, dark eyeliner, dark painted lashes, brushstroked brows, rose-blushed eyeshadow, accented nostrils, open mouth, outlined shaded lips, six porcelain teeth, pierced ears, brunette hand-tied human hair wig over cork pate, French composition and wooden fully-jointed body, open front torso with metal door cover having speaker holes. Condition: generally excellent, slight typical body flakes. Marks: Depose Tete Jumeau 11 (head) Bebe Jumeau Bte SGDG Depose (body) Lioret (mechanism). Comments: Bebe Phonographe presented by Jumeau in 1892 with internal phonograph mechanism by Henri Lioret; when wound at the back torso, the custom discs were designed to sing or recite a children's song or nursery rhyme. Value Points: original wig, pate, body, and wearing original very rare Jumeau blue silk and velvet dress from couturier workshops of Jumeau, with unique flap-front opening to allow exchange of discs for different songs, original shoes signed "Paris Depose 11" with bee symbol, holding original disc "Mon Beau Chateau". The rare original silk flap dress was offered in 1898 in Jumeau advertising for an additional ten francs and few are known to exist.