Passed
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Description
32" (81 cm.) Standing upon a velvet-covered flat wooden platform is a strikingly beautiful woman with leather-over-paper-mache head having ebony-black complexion and beautifully defined facial structure. She has brown glass eyes,articulated eyelids,painted features,slightly parted lips with double row of painted teeth,pierced ears,black fleecy hair,carton torso and and slender legs,and bare feet. Her hands have articulated knuckles allowing her to realistically play the harp strings. She is wearing a vibrant silk and lace costume that is an authentic copy of the original,of antique fabrics,along with matching red satin necklace,golden head-band and wrist-bands bedecked with golden medallions. The lady is posed behind a wooden harp decorated with cast brass woman's head figurals. Movements and Music. While music plays,she proudly lifts her long slender neck,turning her head side-to-side. She pauses at each side turn,blinks her eyelids a number of times,all the while playing the harp. The highly-articulated knuckles of her fingers bend in a realistic manner. The entire mechanism including the cylinder musical movement is concealed within her carton torso,and activated by the signature acorn-shaped Vichy stop/start knob. Gustave Vichy,Paris,circa 1870. The exceptional original and beautifully preserved complexion of the rare piece accentuates the delicate and realistic movement. A prominent model in the early Vichy catalogs,the model was considered a luxury creation in its size,number of animations,quality of music and fine detail of accessory.