$4,200
Sold
sold
Description
21" (53 cm.) including hat. Felt swivel head with elongated stitched-on mask face, pressed facial features, pointy chin, large stitched ears, "O" shaped down-glancing brown eyes, side-stroked large brows, red nose, angled mouth, clown decorations, black felt skull cap, elongated slender torso, jointing at shoulders, hips, and knees, arms modeled bent at the elbows, very slim legs with very elongated black felt feet. Wearing stitched-on black felt shirt and shoes, and with red and white checkered felt wide-leg pants decorated with black pom-poms which are repeated on his yellow clown hat, yellow sash with green band and red pom-pom which are repeated on his shoe tops, red and black ruffled felt collars and cuffs. Condition: doll is excellent except some typical wear to felt at the back neck as found on early models, costume vibrant and colorful with some few moth holes. Comments: Lenci, the style of face construction indicates 1920-21 production from the earliest models; another example is known with earliest Lenci medal button. Based upon its early production during the celebrity era, it is possible the doll was a portrait of a yet-unidentified famous clown of the era. Value Points: very rare model with face sculpted for this model only and enhanced with original hand-painted details of face and imaginative and colorful costume. While Pierrot and Harlequin ruled the French and Italian Commedia dell'arte during the early 1900s, providing a major source of inspiration for the early dolls of Lenci, the Circus was not far behind. The creation and design of clowns, for example, began with this early 1920 model and continued throughout the Scavini years in various sizes and facial models.