Outstanding Early Hand-Drawn Paper Doll Ensemble as Metamorphoses

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6" (15 cm.) x 4 1/2". A heavy card stock folio with hand-stitched blue silk edging preserves a series of card images. The heavy stock master card portrays the face and throat of a woman in semi-profile, with exquisitely painted features, and accompanying this card are nine folded cards with a hand-painted costume on the front whose face is cut-out in a manner to accommodate the face on the master card. By placing the master card inside the folded cards, the image becomes complete. Each of the cards has an ink-script identification of the costume, three bearing the date 1827, one depicting a London costume of 1480, three identifying the folklore costume that is depicted, and one as nun. Circa 1827. Excellent condition, a rare and wonderfully preserved hand-drawn and painted early set of paper dolls.