$1,400
Sold
sold
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Description
17" (43 cm.) Swivel head on matching shoulder plate, blue glass enamel inset eyes with spiral threading, dark eyeliner, painted lashes, feathered brows, accented nostrils and eye corners, closed mouth with upturned lip corners in dainty smiling expression, brunette human hair wig, muslin stitch-jointed body with kid arms. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: Leon Casimir Bru, this is likely the smiling poupee which Bru offered in the 1873 L'Annuaire du Commerce described as having "tetes caoutchouc", literally, heads of rubber, a variation of gutta percha; the luxury dolls firms such as Bru and Huret were intrigued by the possible use of these variant materials in doll-making, but efforts were evidently unpopular and short lived as few examples are found today. Value Points: rare model of Bru deposed poupee, few examples are known to exist in this material; the poupee wears fine original silk ensemble and bonnet.