Fräulein Ondine

Previously this blog featured Miss Ondine, a mechanical "poupee nageuse" (swimming doll) patented in 1878 by Elie Martin.  That bathing belle has a French fashion head, so she could be dubbed Mademoiselle Ondine.  In that post, I noted that Miss Ondine is most commonly found (not that she is common!) with head by the German firm of Simon and Halbig. Here is the version with the Simon and Halbig head, mold #1079. 

Her body is identical to her French (and probably earlier) swimming sister.  She wears her original silk swimsuit, once blue, but now faded to ecru.  I have seen other models in the same bathing attire, in rose, blue, or white.

She winds underneath with a key, moving her arms and legs in a rather frantic and frog-like breaststroke.   Her cork body was advertised as waterproof and capable of floating in water.

Here Mademoiselle Ondine demonstrates her swimming skills.  I have her balanced on a globular glass candleholder, allowing her key to turn freely.  

Yet More Variations on a Theme

Recently on this blog I posted a charming china bathing beauty with her bisque sister, both by Galluba and Hofmann.  Here is one more example showing how Galluba produced the same model in china and bisque.  The 4-inch long china bathing belle is in full molded beach regalia, while the bisque bather is dressed in a bathing suit of silk net and ribbon.  The china sister has molded brown curls peeking out from under her bathing cap, while the bisque sibling has a mohair wig.  Although the china models would have certainly been less expensive to produce, as there was no need to dress and wig them, they are less common than the bisque versions.  Although pretty and appealing, perhaps they were just not as popular with the public.    

Lost in the Crowd

I am one of the eight collectors featured in the April 2016 edition of "Austin Monthly." Note how I carefully arranged the photo shoot (this pose was my idea) to reduce being in the picture as much as possible. I am far more photophobic rather than photogenic, but the magazine insisted that each collector had to be pictured with his or her collection. My main bathing beauty cabinet opens from both sides (it originally was a wet bar and I removed the sink and had a custom cabinet built in), so I could stand in the back and just peek over my ladies (who make a much prettier picture!), while the photographer snapped the photo from the front.