$300
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sold
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Description
7" (18 cm.) Each representing a figure of the New Orleans black community, posed as though at the marketplace, with hand-sculpted wax face, tiny bead eyes, painted features, waxed limbs, wearing handmade cotton costume that is wax-dipped for shape, and mounted upon its original wooden stand. Condition: generally excellent. Marks: Vargas, made in New Orleans (stamp on base of seated woman). Comments: circa 1925, the wax figures were created by Conception Vargas, daughter of the celebrated 19th century Spanish wax sculptor Vargas who immigrated to New Orleans; the figures represented everyday people of the street in that city and were offered solely through Harriets of Rue Royale in the French Quarter from 1915-1930s. Value Points: an exceptional quartet, the figures include two women offering picked cotton, and two women offering beignets and other baked goods, preserved in a remarkably fine state with vibrant colors and rich details.