$12,500
Sold
sold
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Description
26" (66 cm.) Standing upon a velvet-covered
platform is a bisque-head gentleman costumed as
Marquis with unique and highly characterized
facial model,arranged periwig,inset glass
eyes,blushed eyeshadow,cheeks and tip of elongated
pointy nose,painted playing card markings on
forehead and chin,carton torso and legs,bisque
lower arms (right hand restored) wearing
couturier-quality replaced velvet and silk brocade
Marquis costume. He holds a bubble pipe in his
right hand and a bowl of sudsy water in his left
hand. Movement and Music. The Marquis dips the
pipe into the bowl of sudsy water and raises it to
his mouth. He then merrily blows the bubbles,an
amusing childlike activity that is a charming
contradiction to his aristocratic appearance. The
bubble-blowing effect is created by the bellows
mechanism inside his torso,pushing air through his
band and into the pipe,thus causing bubbles to
appear. Music plays throughout. Leopold
Lambert,Paris,circa 1895,with very rare bisque
head of unique sculpt that was created for
automaton use only,its impish expression
delightfully suited for the bubble-blowing
activity. The head,signed with script letter N,was
likely created by Jumeau who designed unique head
models for automaton use,such as the Chinese Tea
Server,and the Crying Child with Polichinelle
(lots 36 and 103 of this catalog),Another
automaton,with this same rare facial model,appears
as a smoking Marquis,Lot#107 in this
catalog,although other examples with this facial
model are not known to exist.