#80

French Musical Automaton "Little Girl with Book and Butterfly" by Renou
Live Auction

$3,400
sold
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Description
18" (46 cm.) Seated upon a high-back wooden chair is a little bisque-head doll with blue glass eyes, mohair lashes, open mouth, four porcelain teeth, pierced ears, blonde mohair wig, carton torso and lower legs, metal hinged hips, wire upper arms, bisque forearms, wearing a gold silk costume with matching kidskin shoes, and holding a little book, while a colorful butterfly attached to a thin wire is posed over her head. When wound, the doll raises and then lowers her head, while alternately raising and lowering her book, while the butterfly flits back and forth over her head, and music plays. Condition: generally excellent, music and mechanism function well. Marks: SH 1039 Germany (head). Comments: French, Renou, circa 1895. Value Points: rare-to-find delightful automaton, with five-movements, is wonderfully preserved, with original costume.