tm****40
Highest Bidder
$2,000
Sold
sold
Click image to enlarge
- Estimate
- $1,200 / $1,500
Description
25" (64 cm.) l. 18"h. Of sturdy carton with black textured finish, the goat features a nodding head, brown glass eyes, defined mouth with tiny hole for bottle nipple, horns, leather collar and bell, and is posed on an iron frame with wooden wheels; hidden on its underside is a lever which, presumably, when moved back and forth, causes the goat to suck from the bottle, and a (now hardened) gutta percha udder which allowed the goat to be milked. Condition: generally excellent, unknown if milking system functions but does appear intact. Comments: attributed to Leon Casimir Bru, who on August 11, 1880, a few months after filing his patent for the similar Bebe Teteur, filed a patent named "La Chevre Mysterieuse" along with drawings and description, as cited in The Bru Book, by Francois Theimer, page 74. The resemblance to this present goat is remarkable, leading to the attribution. Value Points: very rare early toy, of which other examples are not known to exist. Private Collection of Marisol Valverde.