$14,500
Sold
sold
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Description
24" (60 cm.) A bisque-head lady with blue glass
paperweight eyes,painted lashes and brows,closed
mouth,pierced ears,blonde mohair wig,carton torso
and legs,hinged hips,wire upper arms,bisque
forearms,is seated upon a white pedestal wooden
stool,a wooden mandolin in her arms. When
wound,she turns her head from side-to-side and
nodding in a complicated manner,while strumming
the mandolin,and periodically tapping her foot to
the music that is playing. Condition: generally
excellent,music and mechanism function well.
Marks: 8 (incised on doll) L.B. (key). Comments:
Leopold Lambert,a variation of #49 featuring a
clown with guitar that was shown in an early
catalog of the company; although both pieces
showed the identical distinctive stool,and were
described as having a "rich costume of silks and
laces",with same pose and leg movement,the clown
differed by having a papier-mache head which
allowed tongue and eye movement,and appeal to a
different market,circa 1885. Value Points: very
rare and large automaton with extraordinary
original costume of rose satin with applique,bead
and velvet trim,pom-poms,delightful confection of
a bonnet,and beautifully-crafted mandolin,in
wonderful state of preservation.