Turn of the Century Dutch Articulated Artist Lay Figure Mannequin Folk Art Curio

A large carved and polychrome painted tobacconist's figure almost certainly 17th or early 18th century For a related example see Edward H. Pinto, Treen and other Wooden Bygones, Bell and Hyman, London 1969. Page 412, plate 436. Originally this may well have been a tobacconist's shop window figure. For a similar, but slightly earlier unpainted example, see Sotheby's, The W. J. Shepherd collection of treen, 30th November 1983, Lot 393, illustrated in Pinto "Wooden Bygones of Smoking and Snuff Taking", plate 1. Carved wooden figures, often painted, were placed outside tobacconist's shops as signs from the 17th century onwards. The earliest of these figures is the 'black boy' or 'blackamoor'. 'At the sign of the black boy' or 'at the sign of the blackamoor' was a popular address for tobacconists since the early 17th century. The 17th century figures...

A Sutro Baths giltwood seahorse bicycle circa 1890, commissioned by Adolph Sutro to adorn the infamous Sutro Baths in San Francisco. One of eight originally made, film director Georg...

A oversized late 19th century Marionette in original untouched condition, originating from Palmero Italy. The figure is missing both arms, its original clothing is heavily fad...

Pair of mid-19th century folk art carved and polychrome painted wood figures of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert on horseback with origin...