Brazen Hussy!

Ms. #442 has previously been pictured on this blog.  This lively and limber lady is by Schafer and Vater.

Here is the same model, but in cold-painted bronze instead of bisque.  Other than some small and subtle changes, such as the loss of the incised design on the bisque version's black dress, the bronze belle is identical to her bisque sister.  Unmarked and 4.5 inches tall, this heavy metal miss would have been a pulchritudinous paperweight for a man-around-town's desk.

 

The question is which came first, the bisque or the bronze?  Did Schafer copy the bronze to model its mold, or did some foundry use the Schafer lady for the bronze casting?  There is no evidence I know of that Schafer operated a foundry in addition to its prolific porcelain factory.  Yet, I have two other metal maidens in my collection that are most definitely bronze versions of well-known Schafer pieces.  One will appear in my next post.*

 

*By the way, I have begun to post every other Wednesday, as I have pretty much posted pictures of every item in my collection that is not already included in my second book.  Coming up with a new idea every week is not easy, so I have eased off a bit.  But I promise to post at least twice a month, so please continue to check back!