Passed
Description
24" (61 cm.) Seated upon a maple-wood chair with tassel trim is a paper-mache boy with artfully crafted,cheerful yet insolent expression,rich dark brown complexion,brown glass eyes,articulated eye lids,wide beaming smile with hinged jaw,black wiry hair,paper-mache hands and lower legs with bare feet. He is wearing a red velvet jacket,green silk cut-off pants,and a plaid cap,and holds a pewter bottle in one hand and a cup in the other. The arrangement is presented upon a red velvet-lined base.Movement. He blinks his eyes and turns his head side-to-side,moves his lips as if amusingly offering himself a drink,and then he pours from the bottle into the cup,then raising the cup to his lip. He tips back his head and drains the cup. Unseen is the action of the drink as it enters his mouth; it runs through a series of tubes and returns to the bottle,such that the drinking episodes can continue unabated! Roullet et Decamps,circa 1890. A similar "smoking" model of a black-complexioned lad seated on a maple-wood chair was presented in their catalog,#365,named "Negre Fumeur". The rare model of the Drinking Boy is well-preserved and perfectly functioning.