Pony Boy

Pony Boy, Pony Boy, won't you be my Tony Boy?

Don't say no. Here we go off across the plains.

Marry me, carry me right away with you.

Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up, whoa! My Pony Boy.

Giddy up, giddy up, giddy up, whooooooa! My Pony Boy

Bobby Heath and Charley O'Donnell, 1909

This Pierrot and his paramour are engaged in a little high-spirited horseplay. Of excellent china, they are  actually a powder dish. The flirtatious flapper is a half doll and her feathery skirt, which originally would have been a swansdown puff, rests in a shallow dish for holding powder (I have created a substitute for the missing puff).  Pierrot is 5 inches long and incised “6150” on his right hip. This playful pair appear ready to ride off into the sunset, perhaps taking the "bridal" path.

His elongated amber eyes are surrounded by grey shadowing, a technique typical of the German firm of Fasold and Stauch, renown for its unusual and stylish powder dishes and boxes.

Underneath, the piece carries its original paper label from The Neiman Marcus Company. Founded in 1907 by Herbert Marcus Sr., his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman and her husband, Abraham Lincoln Neiman, the first store offered high-end clothing and luxury goods, providing nouveau riche Texas oil barons and their families with new ways to flaunt their wealth. The company is still considered synonymous with luxury goods.

Squeeze Me, Tease Me. . . .

She goes, squeeze me, come on and squeeze me

Come on and tease me like you do

I'm so in love with you

Squeeze Box, The Who  (1975)

This unusual powder dish features a red-haired flapper being courted by a concertina playing Pierrot.  Her skirt forms a round dish that would have held face powder and the puff would have no doubt been swansdown topped with a pair of shapely legs as a handle (in this case, the "puff" is a replica made of marabou and a wood dowel).  Of excellent china, these musical paramours are 6 inches wide and 4 inches tall.

Although unmarked, this piece can be attributed to the German firm of Fasold and Stauch, as both the Pierrot and his main squeeze have the company's signature elongated amber eyes surrounded by smoky gray eyeshadow.   The lovely lady's rather sultry expression and swooning pose suggests that she is getting tired of the musical overture and is ready to move on to the main act.