Outstanding Early German Paper Mache Lady with Elaborate Coiffure

Live Auction

29" (74 cm.) Shoulderplate of dense paper mache, heart-shaped face and elaborate strong throat, black sculpted hair with scalloped sculpted curls enhanced by painted feathering framing the forehead, and with very thick braid coiled into a topknot chignon held by a sculpted hair comb at the back of head, painted brown downcast eyes, black upper eyeliner, heavily modeled eyelids, feathered brows, accented nostrils, closed mouth with hint of smile, original very slender muslin body, wooden lower arms and legs, spatula-shaped hands, painted ochre shoes, wearing original transfer-printed gown and undergarments. Condition: generally excellent, one paint craquelure low on shoulderplate. Comments: Germany, circa 1830. Value Points: an exceptional doll, notable for size, rarity of coiffure, state of preservation. Included is a 1979 advertisement indicating the doll was then being sold from the outstanding estate auction of Estelle Winthrop. Private collection Lorna Lieberman who acquired the doll from that auction and preserved it for the next 43 years.