Onsite
Highest Bidder
$4,500
Sold
sold
Click image to enlarge
- Estimate
- $5,000 / $7,000
Description
12" (30 cm.) A lady and gentleman with paper mache head, blue inset eyes, painted features, closed mouth, the lady with blonde mohair wig in elaborately arranged coiffure, and the gentleman with light mohair wig and sculpted moustache and goatee, are posed as though about to begin a waltz, each with one hand on its hip and the right arm clasping the other person. A hidden metal cone beneath the woman's skirt contains the mechanism which, when wound, causes the couple to glide in graceful circles and then forward, while music plays. Condition: generally excellent, music and mechanism function well. Marks: A. Theroude Paris (brass plate on base). Comments: Theroude, Paris, circa 1850. Value Points: artistically presented and very rare, the waltzing couple are posed realistically, as is their dance performance; enhanced further by wonderful original silk costumes and wigs.
Stuart's Take
Waltzing couples have long been a unique multi-purpose piece for collectors. Not only marvelous in their mechanical ability - so astounding given the period they were made - but they serve beautifully in vignettes with French Fashions, especially parlor or ballroom scenes to create a sense of movement and grandeur.