Very Rare Pair of Grodnertal Wooden Tuck Comb Ladies with Original Costumes

Live Auction

9" (23 cm.) Each is all-wooden with one-piece head and torso, elongated throat, shapely bodice, carved wooden yellow tuck comb at the crown, painted black hair with shaded edging and exaggerated spit curls, original wooden earrings, painted facial features and blush, dowel-jointing at shoulders, elbows, hips and knees, painted orange shoes. Condition: good, all original and un-restored, with some craquelure. Comments: Grodnertal, circa 1830, one of the pair is shown in Ackerman's Dolls in Miniature, page 33, described by the author as a "superior doll because both skilled craftsmanship and aesthetic considerations were part of what went into her creation". Value Points: the dolls have rare pierced ears with original yellow wooden earrings, and are wearing matching gauzy costumes of unusual style, trimmed with gold ribbon and fringe. Ex-collection. Evelyn Ackerman.