$2,750
Sold
sold
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Description
9.5" (24 cm.) A paper mache black man with painted facial features, sculpted yellow and red cap, wooden loosely-jointed limbs, painted brown boots, and in original costume is suspended upon a stage with nicely carved background and canopy with fabric curtain which hides the mechanism. When wound, the doll dances about. Condition: very good, some dust to original costume, mechanism functions well. Comments: J.M. Cromwell, circa 1879, the toy was advertised as "The Hero of the Cakewalk", described as a "stylish gentleman of color" who dances in a manner that proves him to be "a master of the Terpsichorean art". The original price was $1.50.