$4,250
Sold
sold
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Description
27" (69 cm.) x 18". A fine mahogany-framed miniature theatre box with inlay pen-striping features a deeply-set back room with transfer-print wallpaper and with side and back curtained mirrors and lithographed paper tile floor. Seated on fabric-covered wooden stools behind wooden music stands are two paper-mache Marquis Monkeys with glass movable eyes, one with hinged jaw, painted grey beards, carton torsos, wooden lower hands and legs, and rich silk court costumes with gilt paper trim (their tri-corn hats resting on the floor); one holds a violin, the other a cello, and when wound, the monkeys perform. A label "Charles R. Delaney, Antique Timepieces, Santa Barbara, Ca" at the back has a hand-written list of the eight different tunes which are performed ranging from Grande Duchess to Monsieur Polycarp, and with instructions for changing the tunes. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: French, circa 1850. Value Points: the delightful scene, with wonderful and well-preserved details and amusing movements, enhances the eight-tune music box.