Bring on the Dancing Girls!

Certainly any collector would want to bring on any dancer as delicate and delightful as this lovely lass.  Of excellent porcelain and beautifully sculpted and decorated, she is 11 inches tall, not including her wooden base.

Although unmarked, she appears in the 1911 catalog of Dressel, Kister, and Company, confirming not only her maker, but that her base is original as well. This must have been a popular pose, as Dressel offered this luscious light of the harem in a variety of sizes and outfits (or no outfit).

Joining the chorus line are two more Dressel dancing damsels. All have their tresses in coiled braids over their ears and while the gorgeous gal in green has donned a turban, the other two wear their hair in a low chignon in the back. The nubile nude is bisque, while the other two are china. 

Another image from the Dressel catalog. 

A back view reveals that these ladies are equally lovely both coming and going. The details and workmanship are exquisite. For example, the center dancer's outfit has been decorated to give the appearance of sheerness and she is stepping out of her slipper as she rises on tiptoe.

This antique cigarette case carries a nearly identical image. Dressel often copied popular paintings and postcards of the day, but so far I have been unable to locate the original image that appears to have inspired both the case and figurines.

 

Dressel Kister Sisters

Although unmarked, this china charmer is a documented model from Dressel, Kister, and Company.     Of beautiful glowing pale porcelain, with soft blushing on her hands, elbows, cheeks, breasts, and knees, this 7-inch long languorous lady is molded in a sitting position.  

She has the striated grey eyebrows and large languid brown eyes so often found on Dressel damsels, but instead of the typical molded grey tresses, a wig of mohair curls covers her bald solid pate. 

Here is the identical wasp-waisted model, but with the grey molded hair incongruously found on so many of Dressel's nubile nymphs.

Like her eyebrows, her tresses are streaked to give the illusion of separated strands of hair.  Her blue-grey eyes have sultry shadowing underneath.

Here is the molded-hair version pictured in the company's 1911 catalogue.  She apparently came perched on her personal pedestal.

Rarity by Riera?

This elegant Edwardian is all original, from the top of her jaunty chapeau to the bottom of her velvet-covered box base (except for the antique paper rose I added to hide some damage to her left fingertips).  Twelve inches tall, she has a bisque head and limbs on an armature body.  

Although there are no visible marks, the modeling and decoration of her face (especially the feathered eyebrows) recalls the lovely ladies made by Dressel, Kister, and Company.  The large expressive hands are also typical of Dressel.

Her feet are tacked to the box lid with little nails, which are cleverly disguised as shoe buckles.

Her base is actually a box, that may have once held some sweet treats or treasured trinket.

Her outfit would be the epitome of fashion in the late 1910s, with the unusual mushroom-shaped hat fitted low over the eyebrows, short jacket with a wide collar, high waist, and a full skirt, such as pictured in this fashion plate from 1917.

She may be a rare fashion doll dressed by Mademoiselle E. Victoria Riera, who created exquisitely costumed dolls in France in the early 1900s.  Riera is first mentioned in the French magazine Femina in 1908 as the winner of a doll dressing contest for three little ladies she garbed in detailed historical costumes.  Her dolls had bisque heads and limbs, which Riera bought from other manufacturers, and wore beautifully tailored hand-sewn costumes representing historical eras, regional folk dress, or contemporary fashion.  Her dolls were posed on velvet bases, often, but not always, with a label carrying Riera's name and the year.  These dolls were luxury items, exhibited at museums and high-end fashionable stores. Riera continued to dress dolls through the 1910s, including taking part in exhibitions to help raise funds for the French war effort.  This 12-inch fashion lady auctioned by Theriault's has an identical bisque head to my belle on a box, the same unusual feet with the nail buckles, and a similar velvet-covered base. Theriault's attributed her to Riera.  

What a Beautiful Pussy You Are!

"O lovely Pussy! O Pussy, my love, 

What a beautiful Pussy you are, 

You are, 

You are! 

What a beautiful Pussy you are!" 

The Owl and the Pussy Cat, Edward Lear

With remarks by a certain presidential candidate regarding his propensity for grabbing pussies making headlines, I thought this week I would post this fine figurine of woman and her pretty pussy that any collector would like to grab.  By the German firm of Dressel, Kister, and Company, this nubile nude and her feline friend are of the finest china and decoration.  Marked underneath her left foot with crowned “L” in gray and freehand “2,” this curvaceous cutie and her cuddly kitty are 4 inches long and 3.5 inches.  The "L" mark replaced the bishop's crozier mark around 1900, under the proprietorship of Rudolph Lenck, and later his widow, Lina, who sold the factory in 1919.