#119

Petite French Bisque Musical Automaton as Marquis and Marquise
Live Auction

Passed
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Description
10" (25 cm.) dolls. 14" with base. The matched pair of bisque head dolls, each with slender oval face and elongated throat, glass eyes, aquiline nose, painted lashes and feathered brows, accented nostrils, closed mouth with hint of smile, pierced ears, blonde mohair wig over cork pate, have shapely one-piece carton bodies arranged in elegant pose, wire upper arms, bisque forearms; and mounted upon a velvet covered ebony base with velvet floor. Hidden under the base are clockwork and musical mechanisms which, when wound, cause Marquis to alternately offer flowers and lift his sabre in greeting. Condition: generally excellent, mechanism and music on woman needs adjustment. Comments: French, circa 1867. Value Points: the elegant salon pair are especially notable for portrait model faces and superb original costumes.