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.

Powder Puff Pierrette

This roguish redhead is already for the masquerade ball in her form-fitting Pierrette costume that not only shows off her shapely legs, but manages to flash a bit of bosom under the wide ruffled collar. The collar forms a small shallow dish and her head is a separate piece, sewn to the original down powder puff, so that she appears to wear a marabou boa. Of excellent china and 6.25 inches tall, this coquettish clown is unmarked, but her auburn hair and large amber eyes with smoky grey shading are all characteristic of the German firm of Fasold and Stauch. The little dish would not hold much powder, so perhaps it was meant for blush or rouge?

 

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. 

Gentle as a Lamb

The lovely lady with her loving lambkin is a big and very unusual figural powder dish.  The little lamb is the dish and a fluffy powder puff forms its fleece.

 Superbly sculpted from all sides, this piece is 6.5 inches long and 5 inches.  It is incised underneath “13746.”

Her slim, rather square face with narrow elongated eyes resembles those of certain delightful deco damsels by Gebruder  Heubach.

Snake Charmer

 He's a cold-hearted snake 

Look into his eyes 

Oh oh oh 

He's been tellin' lies 

He's a lover boy at play 

He don't play by the rules 

Oh oh oh 

Girl don't play the fool--no

Paula Abdul and Elliot Wolfe, 1989

This slinky serpent is either charming, or is being charmed by, the lithe and lovely lady curled up on his coils.  A very unusual creation by Galluba and Hofmann, this 4.25 inch tall  and 4.5 inch wide china figurine is stamped underneath in green with the company's intertwined “G” and “H” inside a crowned shield and incised “40.”  The encircling snake forms a shallow dish, perhaps for holding powder or trinkets (or maybe an apple?).

As they stare into each other's eyes, one wonders who is hypnotizing whom.

A back view of the this lissome lass and her elongated lover.

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.