$4,000
Sold
sold
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Description
27" (69 cm.) Standing upon a velvet-covered wooden
base is a bisque-head doll with brown glass
paperweight eyes,closed mouth,painted
features,pierced ears,brunette human hair
wig,bisque shoulder plate and bisque hands,shapely
female torso hinged below the waist,slender
paper-mache legs,silk and velvet costume with
pearl and bead trim,elaborate coiffe,tambourine
with bells. Movement and Music. Leaning
backward,posed to begin her dance,she nods her
head and turns it side-to-side,while shaking the
tambourine three times. Then her head and upper
torso move in opposing directions as though in a
sinuous dance. Two tunes play,Il Basio Valse,and
Blanche de Castillo,according to the paper tune
label on the wooden base. Leopold Lambert,circa
1890,with commissioned portrait head from Emile
Jumeau,marked "8". The automaton portrays a
graceful dancer with unusual pivoting of hips,and
the rarer model bisque head,bisque shoulder-plate
with defined bosom,and bisque hands lend extra
luxury detail. The costume and velvet base cover
are appropriately re-worked; there are two hidden
hairlines on the shoulder plate.