Passed
Description
22" (56 cm.) h. x 22"w. x 17"d. Arranged upon an ebony wooden rectangular base with painted floral trim is a pastoral setting made of painted paper-mache featuring a richly dressed young shepherdess with bisque head,blown glass paperweight blue eye and bisque hands. She is perched on a rock outcropping,and she holds a bowl of sudsy water in her lap and bubble blower in her right hand.Movements and Music. Turning and nodding her head,she dips her bubble pipe into the bowl,raises the bubble-blowing pipe to her lips and then bubbles appear at the end of the pipe. Her left arm raises a bouquet of flowers to and fro. At her side there is a twisted glass waterfall pouring into a pond where a bird turns side-to-side and then dips down to take a drink. The tranquil,yet deft,performance is very realistic,based upon an internal bellows with tubing that runs up her left arm to the pipe,pushing air to blow the bubbles. Two tunes are provided by a 36-note Reuge movement. Michel Marcu,Chalautre la Grande,France,circa 1980. The artist emerged as an automaton creator in the late 1970s,building a variety of automata inspired by the 19th century pieces. Most of his work concentrated on small bisque-head automata with a very limited range of movements,unlike this superlative example that demonstrates greater complexity and artistic design.