Bawdy Bisques and Naughty Novelties
Postcard Image
Friday, April 19, 2024
Nice Kicks
Thursday, March 28, 2024
Mystery Miss
The maker of this lovely lady is so far unknown. Similar luscious lasses have appeared on this blog, and while they share a family resemblance, all are unmarked. They are all of fine bisque with exceptionally delicate and graceful hands and wear pink painted slippers with molded, but in some cases undecorated, single straps. Although I have seen femmes by this mystery firm advertised in various antiques venues as by Galluba and Hofmann, these figures have much more realistically proportioned bodies than Galluba's idealized ladies and the facial painting is far less detailed, lacking Galluba's trademark intaglio blue eyes with deep pupils highlighted with a dot of white, typically outlined in black, with red upper lid lines. She is 3.25 inches high.
Thursday, March 7, 2024
Turkish Delight!
Thursday, February 22, 2024
The Color Purple
Thursday, February 8, 2024
The Sensation of the Doll World
Friday, January 26, 2024
Mystery Maiden
Thursday, January 4, 2024
Trapped in Amber. . .
. . . which is certainly what any man might be if he gazed into smoky golden eyes such as these. This sultry siren is a half doll attributed to the German firm of Fasold and Stauch. A number of their luscious ladies have been featured on this blog in various forms, including nudes, bathing beauties, and half dolls. The elongated almond amber eyes shadowed by smoky grey shading and slender, gracefully gesturing hands are signatures of Fasold. Of excellent china and beautifully molded and decorated, this wholly beautiful half doll is 4 inches tall and incised with an obscured number on the back of her base.
Thursday, December 21, 2023
Gorgeous Goebel
Friday, December 8, 2023
William Goebel's Wonderful Water-Folk
I have an article on the online Museum of Aquarium and Pet History discussing the lovely loreleis and whimsical water creatures created by the German firm of William Goebel.
Thursday, November 30, 2023
Impudent Imposter
Thursday, November 16, 2023
And This Little Piggy. . .
. . . hit the beach. This glamorous gilt is another example of a pink pig fairing, popular from the late 1800s through the turn of the last century. She is part of an entire genre of bisque and china figurines featuring pink pigs engaged in typically human activities, often with a comical or satirical theme. This pulchritudinous porker has decided to bake her hams at the seaside, daintily descending from a bathing machine in her pink bathing suit bedecked with bows. Of excellent sharp bisque, this piece is five inches high and incised "4673" on the back. The top of the bathing machine is open to serve as a vase.
Monday, November 6, 2023
Who Made These Mermaids?
Friday, October 27, 2023
Casting a Wide Net
This laughing lass has her net at ready, perhaps hoping to bag herself some handsome beach beau. She is actually made to perch on the edge of an aquarium, a variation on the fish bowl fancies with fishing poles. Although by the 1920s the form-fitting wool knit swimsuit was becoming popular, many women still wore bathing suits like this one, consisting of a long shift-like tunic top over shorts.
Although unmarked, I attribute her to the German firm of Hertwig and Company. Not only are her sharp realistic modeling and lively expression similar to this company's bathing beauties and lithe lady figurines, there is a hole on the bottom that would have accommodated a metal loop to clip the piece to the rim of an aquarium. Hertwig used such clips for its fishing figures, but these metal clips are often missing, having fallen out or rusted away over the decades. This lass is 6 inches tall, quite large for this sort of aquarium ornament.
Friday, October 6, 2023
Pleased as Punch!
Thursday, September 14, 2023
Gone Fishing!
On May 4, 2023, my article about fishing figures, the little aquarium novelties that perched on the edge of a fishtanks, tiny fishing poles in hand, appeared on the on the online Museum of Aquarium and Pet History. The article includes pictures of these fish tank fancies from my collection, as well as images from manufacturer and aquarium catalogs.