Dancing Children in the Pavilion

Live Auction

Four small bisque dolls with painted facial features and mohair wigs, wooden bodies with loosely jointed limbs, silk costumes trimmed with lace and gilt papers, are posed on hidden metal rods and positioned on a platform, with paper mache base to simulate a garden setting, decorated as a pavilion with four steps leading to the stage, and four poles with silk banners. The setting is arranged on an ebony-finished wooden base under glass dome. Movements: the four dolls twirl right, then twirl left, then completely around; their loosely jointed legs appear to bend in time to the music. Circa 1880. 16" (40 cm). Three movements. Two tunes.