Onsite
Highest Bidder
$50,000
Sold
sold
Click image to enlarge
- Estimate
- $12,000 / $16,000
Description
24" (61 cm.) Poured wax shoulderhead with rounded facial modeling, blue glass inset eyes, heavily lidded eyes, tinted brows, strong nose with accented nostrils, closed mouth with tinted lips, sculpted ears, inserted hair arranged in combed-back side-parted fashion, firmly-stuffed cloth body and upper limbs, wax lower arms and hands, carved wooden boots. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: portrait doll of the celebrated American circus performer, Tom Thumb, circa 1880; museum records indicate an oral history (undocumented) of the doll as being from the waxworks of Madame Tussaud, clothed in formal wear made from Tom Thumb's actual clothing. Value Points: outstanding portraiture aptly captures the Tom Thumb image as seen in period photographs, and is in very fine state of preservation. The doll is featured in the book The Rose Unfolds by Rosalie Whyel and Susan Hedrick, page 59.
Stuart's Take
The great California collectors, Chuck and Fran Ciraolo, had an annual ritual related to this doll. Every year the museum was open and displayed this wonderful piece they would fly to Seattle on a trip they referred to as, "Visiting Tom." I can see how people would have strong emotional ties to Tom Thumb and what is an astounding portrait. Real to life in not only the overall look, but the size was made to exact proportions and the costume is told to be from original garments worn by Tom Thumb. For wonderful reading to capture this time - and the barnstorming life of P.T. Barnum performers - the historical novel by Melanie Benjamin, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb, is a fascinating read.