#463

Early German Wooden Mystery House with Grodnertal Dolls
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Live Auction

eu****67
$3,200
sold
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Estimate
$4,000 / $6,000
Description
15" (38 cm.) The simply-shaped wooden house with stick-framed doors and frame, features a steepled roof, four glass-framed hand-painted symbolic scenes at the front and two at each side, with two steeple-shaped open doors at the floor edge in which are resting a pair of waist-up Grodnertal figures, each with painted hair and facial features, classic tendrils of curls around the face, simplistic torso and arms, and original costumes. The dolls are attached to a wire frame at base which is attached to a long rope extending to the center front roof, and which was designed to allow rotation forward and backward. Condition: very good, protruding dowel at center roof suggests missing wind vane. Comments: early 1800s, the fascinating miniature "house" was likely designed as a simple weather van or hygrometer. Value Points: the mystery of intriguing purpose is accentuated by the hand-painted symbolic scenes, and well-preserved original dolls.