A pair of dolls, representing a man and woman posed and ready for the dance, each having wax-over-paper mache head with delicately painted facial features, hand-tied human hair wig, carton torso and painted metal hands. The woman has cobalt blue glass enamel inset eyes, and the man has brown enamel eyes. The woman has a shapely figure and wears her original costume of black satin bodice, cream silk skirt, each trimmed with Alencon lace and hand-made rick-rack over a green tinplate cone-shaped frame that contains the mechanism. Her hair is elegantly braided and ribboned. The man wears pale blue silk costume trimmed with delicate pink braid and ribbons, with matching cap and stockings trim. He is attached to the woman by a metal rod at the torso. The original brass labels, A. Theroude, Paris, and Brevete SGDG, appear on the metal cone.
Movements: The couple twirls around and around in waltz-like fashion, periodically pausing, then gliding forward, then twirling again. music plays.
Historical References: The waltzing couple, a deposed model by Theroude according to the attached brass label, was a splendid presentation and remained a favorite offering of the firm for many years. In his 1842 catalog he offered Grande Valse a 2 Figures at the astonishing price of 180 fr, nearly ten times the cost of any of his other pieces. The automaton was still being made at least as late as 1860 when it was one of four Theroude pieces described and illustrated in La Revue des Modes. A bit later, Vichy appropriated the concept and created his splendid Waltzing Couples (see #23 of this book). Circa 1850.