Wanna See My . . .Lady?

A number of posts on this blog have featured female figures with strategically placed kitty-cats, a double-entendre of "pussy" as an affectionate name for a cat and as a vulgar reference to female genitalia. The Barrison Sisters built an entire vaudeville career in the 1890s by showing off their "pussies" on stage. This bawdy bronze is a slightly different play on pussy. A cute kitten sits on a marble base. Its realistic fluffy coat and appealing face are superbly sculpted, highlighted with a deep golden patina. Just 5 inches high, but with substantial heft, it could have served as a paperweight for a gentleman's desk.

Why a gentleman? Well, this prurient pussy swings open to expose a kneeling nude lady, smugly smiling as she clutches a cache of jewels. She has a subtler golden patina than her feline friend, and her hair and gems are a softly-tinted rose.

Almost obscured by the curls in the fur, "AUSTRIA" is stamped on the back rim of the cat. Beginning in the mid-19th century, Austria, particularly in Vienna, was famous for its foundries and ateliers producing finely crafted artistic bronzes. The works covered a wide variety of genres, including classical studies, animals and nature, comic subjects, Orientalist images, and even erotic images. Often the naughty bits were concealed in a seemingly innocuous subject, only to be revealed by a push of a button or lifting a up a piece of metal drapery. There is a wide variety of these Austria sculptures  concealing salacious secrets, with nubile nudes hidden within an assortment of owls, mice, sphinxes, mummy cases, Eastern idols, and, perhaps most appropriately, an iron maiden.

 

Frog Prince

Open the door, my princess dear, 

Open the door to thy true love here! 

And mind the words that thou and I said 

By the fountain cool, in the greenwood shade.

In the fairy tale "The Frog Prince," a princess playing by a well accidentally drops her golden ball into it.  A frog offers to fetch it for her if she promises to be his playmate and bring him to live with her in her castle.  The princess agrees, but when the frog returns her ball, she runs away, leaving, so she thinks, the frog behind,  However, soon the frog appears at the castle, demanding entrance.  When the king hears the frog's story, he tells his daughter she must keep her promise and she reluctantly allows the frog to sit by her at the table and eat out of her plate.  Later the frog demands that the princess carry him to her bedroom, place him on her bed, and let him sleep on her pillow.  In some versions, after the frog sleeps there for three nights, he turns into a handsome prince; in others, he changes after the princess either kisses him or, in a bizarre and violent twist, slams him against a wall.  

If this figurine of a kneeling nude confronting a rather forward frog was inspired by the fairy tale, it looks as if the ambitious amphibian has demanded a little more than merely sleeping on the lovely lady's pillow! Of excellent china, this figurine is this 5.5 inches tall and was created by the German firm of Galluba and Hofmann. 

From the woman's slightly smiling expression, she seems willing to accede to the frog's demands on the chance there might just be an enchanted prince involved.

Underneath the base the figurine is incised "21" and stamped in green with Galluba and Hofmann crowned shield mark.

Also incised on left rear edge of the base is what appears to be "L Lonk (or maybe "Lank?") Nov 25." It is not unusual to find a sculptor's signature on fine bisque and china figurines of the early 1900s.  Renown German sculptor Otto Poertzel (1876-1963) initially trained and worked as a porcelain modeler at A. W. Fr. Kister., where his father was already a designer, and some figurines from this factory are incised with his signature.  However, I have not been able to trace the artist of this female and her froggy friend. 

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.

Case Studies

Over many years of collecting, I have added assorted other bathing-beauty themed items along with my china and bisque belles.  While straightening out a display case, I realized I had acquired a small sample of cigarette cases, each featuring a lovely lady.   This sterling sliver cigarette case with its nubile Nereid is typical of the art nouveau offerings by the Unger Brothers, a jewelry and silver manufacturing firm established in New Jersey in the 1870s. The firm became renown in the late 1800s and early 1900s for its elaborate and exquisite repousse art nouveau pieces, ranging from petite pins to entire vanity sets, and of course cigarette cases. The company's work often featured voluptuous belles, clad in little more than their own flowing tresses, floating in water or riding upon waves.  This stunning sterling sylph is 3.25 inches high and 2.5 inches wide.  The case is stamped on an internal bar or gate meant to hold the cigarettes in place with the Unger Brothers intertwined "U" and "B."   The case was clearly intended for a man, not only because of its bare buxom belle, but the back is also curved to fit snuggly in a man's pocket.

Featuring a more modestly clad bather in fired enamel, this case is 3.25 inches by 2.25 inches   Inside it is stamped with "800," which means it is 800 parts silver to 200 parts of alloy (sterling silver is denoted by "925"), as well as an unidentified maker's mark.  I suspect this piece is Italian, as prior to the establishment of hallmark regulations in the 1934, much Italian silver carried only mark establishing purity, sometimes along with a city or maker's mark.  Also, many years ago while exploring the jewelry and antique shops on the Ponte Vecchio in Florence I saw a case with a nearly identical, although badly damaged, enamel scene. 

Another reason I think this case may be Italian is that the scene was "inspired" (a nice way of saying used without bothering about little things like copyright protection) by this postcard I believe was designed by Italian artist Giovanni Guerzoni, who worked in Milan from 1897 through the 1920s.  He is known for his soft impressionistic landscapes, portraits of pretty woman, and romantic themes.

There has been a flood in recent years of fake enamel cigarette cases, often with highly sought after erotic or historic themes, many selling for hundreds, even thousands, of dollars. The case itself is often antique sterling or alpaca (a silver metal alloy created using nickel, copper, tin, and zinc, and often used as a silver substitute).  A ceramic plaque or laminated print is then inset into the cover or simply attached as a plaque on top.  This is how you can find an "authentic antique" erotic cigarette case with a British assay mark from the 1920s featuring a 1940s pinup girl!  The vast majority of antique cases were decorated with vitreous enamel, in which colored powered glass is fused to a surface by firing.  Most of the reproductions are using porcelain plaques or laminated pictures, often with images created using offset printing, in which the picture is made up of regularly placed dots.  The printed images used on the modern cases often are from from well-known Victorian or art nouveau paintings, or even old postcards that include the artist's signature (I have seen several of these cases using postcards designed by Luiz Usabal, whose work has been featured on this blog).  These artists designed the postcard, not the case!  As you can see in this enamel example, the signature was conveniently omitted.  The enamel work is softer and looser than the image on the postcard, with subtle changes in the scene and coloring.  A close up shows the enamel surface, including the expected wear and scratches, as these cases were meant to be carried about in pockets and purses and used regularly.  The enamel looks more like a painting than a print. 

A close up of the postcard reveals the dots used on offset printing to create the image.  If you are in the market for an antique enamel cigarette case, check for these dots.  Also, do not be shy about questioning the seller regarding whether the image is original to the case and requiring that the seller the state on the invoice that the entire case is an original antique with vitreous enamel decoration.

An unusual alpaca case with the enamel filling an engraved design.  The case is 3.75 inches by 3 inches and inside has metal eyelets that would have one been strung with elastic to hold the cigarettes in place.  This was a much-used case and it appears at one point someone tried to efface an image or initials in the upper left corner.  Despite the surface wear and scratches, the details are still delightful, including her colorful cushions and the dainty pair of slippers sitting on the rug near her feet.

This case, probably dating from the 1910s or 1920s, was an inexpensive alternative to sterling cases with hand-painted enamels.  The image is a hand-tinted photograph printed on celluloid and resembles those found on little advertising mirrors and pins from the period.  Made of an inexpensive silver-tone metal, it is stamped "Germany" on the internal bar or gate. It is 3.5 inches by 2.75 inches.

Dressed from Head to Toe . . . .

but with nothing in-between, this long-legged lass is from the German firm of Fasold and Stauch.  Of excellent china and 9 inches tall, she sweetly smiles with confidence, knowing that the right accessories are all you need to make a fashion statement.  Perhaps at one point she wore a dress of real fabric and lace, but with such a stunning hat (and figure!), who needs clothes?

Although marked only with a freehand “11” in black under her base, this flirtatious fashionista flashes the typical elongated amber eyes with grey shading attributed to Fasold.

Her torso fits down onto slots at the tops of the legs and is held in place with plaster. This allowed Fasold to use the same lithe limbs for a variety of figurines, without having to create an entirely new mold. For example, this be-gloved lovely, part of an auction by Theriault's, has been found on the same shapely legs.

Or a powder dish could be added, to hold an elegant half doll powder puff, as shown by this example, also from the same Theriault's auction.

Ravishing Redhead

As in the real world, true red-headed bathing beauties are uncommon, especially when they are as stunning as this copper-tressed cutie.  Of excellent flawless bisque, this femme with flame-colored locks is 4.5 inches tall and 4 inches wide.  Beautifully modeled from her slender curves to her lithe limbs, she is faintly stamped “Bavaria” in black under her right thigh, a mark typical of the German firm of William Goebel, and is incised under her hips “801 C2.”  

  

A close up of this gorgeous ginger gal's lovely face with unusual amber-colored eyes.

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.