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Description
21" (53 cm.) Hip-up carved wooden figure of woman with carved strong stern features, painted dark brows, blushed cheeks, inset enamel dark eyes, hand-stitched wig, shaped torso, tacked-on original cloth arms, wooden carved hands. The torso is attached to a wooden "tower" with rounded front painted to simulate vine covered stones, and has a small open window in which is seen a carved wooden man. Metal hinged wooden flaps hide the tower, but when opened the flaps cover the woman, and form into the upper walls of the fortress. Condition: very good, the pull-string mechanism which should operate the toy is broken, one side flap wall may be missing. Comments: French, late 1700s, the concept of the toy remains a mystery. The doll is featured in the book Les Poupees Royales by Francois Theimer, page 137, which suggests symbolic caricature of Marie Antoinette during her final imprisonment. Value Points: intriguing early wooden toy, which includes the (frail) original costume of a commoner.