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1940´s Donald Duck Hand Carved Wooden Sign

$5,000
£3,846.33
€4,464.50
CA$7,051.19
A$7,898.52
CHF 4,148.59
MX$96,043.50
NOK 52,534.69
SEK 49,869.55
DKK 33,320.28

About the Item

Fantastic Mid-Century Donald Duck Advertising Sign. 1940´s Hand Carved Advertising Element. Maybe made for a Cinema or for a book presentation. Over the course of nearly eight decades, Donald Duck has become one of the most celebrated and fondly remembered of all Disney characters. What is sometimes not remembered is that Donald began life in 1934 as a very different duck. His physical appearance, in his earliest films, was one that many of today’s Disney fans would scarcely recognize. This was not unusual; most of Hollywood’s classic cartoon characters have evolved slowly into their final form. Mickey Mouse, assuming his classic design within his first three films, was the exception to the rule. Donald’s debut in The Wise Little Hen was built around his voice, supplied by the uniquely talented Clarence Nash. His appearance was simply that of a generic cartoon duck, with the long bill, extended neck, and waddling gait common to his species. As he returned to play additional supporting roles in 1934 and 1935, his appearance remained essentially the same. In the spring and summer of 1936, in shorts like Orphans’ Picnic and Moving Day, audiences began to see changes in Donald’s design. His bill, still long and ducklike, became more malleable and expressive. His eyes grew larger, telegraphing his changes in expression. No longer a nondescript duck, he was becoming a distinct, unique individual. By this time Donald’s popularity with audiences was unmistakable, and the Disney studio was clearly grooming him for stardom. Don Donald, the first picture in a Donald Duck starring series, was released in January 1937. By now Donald had settled into the familiar design still remembered today. During these golden years of Disney animation, many artists displayed uniquely specialized talents, and certain of the animators were found to have a special proficiency in animating Donald’s movements and moods. These artists formed a loose talent pool known as the “Duck men.” Along with the changes in his appearance, and perhaps more important, came the development of Donald’s personality. In his first role in The Wise Little Hen, Donald had existed only to serve the needs of the story. His main characteristics in that film were his laziness, as he dodged the responsibility of helping the hen plant and harvest her corn, and a mischievous glee when he fooled her into thinking he was too sick to work. It was in his second appearance, in Orphans’ Benefit (1934), that Donald showed his true colors. In this short he attempted a stage performance for an audience of unruly youngsters, who heckled him mercilessly and threw objects at him. Donald lost his temper and exploded in a tantrum, and animator Dick Lundy devised a distinctive action to show off his fighting rage: hopping on one foot, brandishing his fist, challenging all comers. It was a career-making scene. Donald Duck was a naturally funny character anyway, but when he became angry, he was hilarious. In subsequent films he retained his lazy and mischievous attributes, but his temper became his defining trait. Mickey Mouse, increasingly a nice guy in the mid-1930s, made a direct appeal to the audience’s sympathies, but Donald, of the thunderous rages, was clearly built for comedy. The story department obliged, unleashing a host of slapstick indignities on him. In the first three years of his screen life, Donald was chased by a runaway saw blade in The Dognapper, swept over a waterfall and brained with a tree branch in On Ice, trampled by stampeding horses in Mickey’s Polo Team, dive-bombed by a swarm of bees in Orphans’ Picnic, inflated like a balloon and sent careening through the air in Moving Day, fired from a cannon and electrocuted in Mickey’s Circus, and smashed through a window and dangled from a precarious height in Donald and Pluto. He took it all, and belligerently bounced back for more. By the late 1930s, both Donald’s design and his personality had crystallized. The years 1937-1941 might be considered the peak of his acting career; they produced a series of delightful shorts which drove him, with exquisite artistry, to the breaking point time and again. When a 1938 audience saw a Donald Duck short with the title Self Control—and saw Donald, in its opening scene, happily relaxing in his hammock—they knew what to expect. The fun was in watching how his eponymous self-control would be shattered by film’s end; by what carefully crafted degrees the filmmakers would inflict life’s torments on him until, step by step, he lost his temper completely. And Donald never disappointed; his films invariably ended with a wild, sputtering paroxysm of rage. We have specialized in the sale of Art Deco and Art Nouveau and Vintage styles since 1995. If you have any questions we are at your disposal. Pushing the button that reads 'View All From Seller'. And you can see more objects to the style for sale. Why are there so many antiques in Argentina? In the 1880 – 1940 there was a grate wave of immigration encouraged by the periods of war that were taking place. 1st World War took place between 1914 and 1918 2nd World War took place between 1939 and 1945 The immigrants options were New York or Buenos Aires. Tickets were cheap and in Buenos Aires they were welcomed with open arms, as it was a country where everything was still to be done. Argentina was the country of new opportunities, labour was needed and religious freedom was assured, in many cases the of the family travel first until they were settled and then the rest of the family members join them. In the immigrant museum “Ellis Island Immigrant Building” in New York you can se the promotional posters of the boats that would take them to a new life. Between the years 1895 and 1896, Argentina had the highest DGP (gross domestic product) per capita in the world according to the Maddison Historical Statistics index, this situation arose due to the large amount of food being exported to European countries, which were at war. The Argentinean ships left the port of Buenos Aires with food, but they returned with furniture, clothes and construction elements, (it´s common to see this the old buildings of the historic neighbourhood of San Telmo, the beams with the inscription “Made in England)”, as well as many markets that were built in Buenos Aires, such us the San Telmo Market, whose structure was brought by ship and afterwards assembled in 900 Defensa Street. With the great influence of European immigrants living in the country, the children of the upper classes travelled to study in France, resulting in the inauguration of “La Maison Argentinienne”, on 27th of June 1928, in the international city of Paris, which hosted many Argentinians that were studying in Frace. It´s the fourth house to be built after France, Canada and Belgium, being the first Spanish-speaking one. Still in place today (17 Bd Jourdan, 75014, Paris, France). Many of the children of these wealthy families who attended international art exhibitions, museums and art courses abroad, took a keen interest in the European style. This is why Buenos Aires was at the time referred as “The Paris of South America”. Between the years 1890 and 1920 more than a hundred Palaces were built on Alvear Avenue the most exclusive avenue in Buenos Aires. Today some of these palaces have been transformed into museums, hotels and embassies. In the year 1936, the Kavanagh building was inaugurated, it was the tallest reinforced concrete building in South America. During 1994 the American Society of Civil Engineers distinguished it as an “international engineering milestone”, and it´s now considered a World Heritage of Modern Architecture. At the time was common to hire foreign architects such as Le Corbusier, who visited Buenos Aires/Argentina in 1929 and in 1948 he drew up the blueprints for a house built in La Plata City (which was declared a World Heritage Site). In 1947, the Hungarian architect Marcelo Breuer designed “Parador Ariston” in the seaside city of Mar del Plata. After an Argentinean student at Harvard University convinced him to come to Argentina. He worked on an urban development project in the Casa Amarilla, area of La Boca. The Ukrainian architect, Vladimiro Acosta, arrives in Argentina in 1928 and worked as an architect until que moved to Brazil. Antonio Bonet, a Spanish architect who worked with Le Corbusier in Paris, arrives in Argentina in 1937, where he carried out several architectural works and in 1938 designs the well-known BFK chair. Andres Kálnay, of Hungarian origin, made around 120 architectural masterpieces, among which the former Munich brewery stands out, he even made the furniture’s design. The German architect, Walter Gropius, director of the Bauhaus, lived in Argentina, where he wrote articles for “Sur” magazine and founded in Buenos Aires, an architectural firm with Franz Möller, who was also an architect, where he built two houses. At the same time several famous designers decided to immigrate to Argentina, among them we can find the well-known French designer, Jean-Michel Frank, who arrived in the country in 1940 and also worked for the Rockefeller family. Special pieces were made, which were sold exclusively in the country, such as the well-known German company “WMF”, who sold their products by catalogue, which were chosen by the ladies of high society in the list of wedding gifts, as well as the pieces designed by Christofle. The Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti, made special pieces for Argentinean mansions. In 1904 the first Jansen branch outside Paris was established in Buenos Aires, as the Argentinean clientele demanded a large amount of furniture, from the end of the 19th century to the mid-20th century. In 1970, the brand Rigolleau Argentina made pieces authorised by Lalique. The brands Maple and Thompson also set up shop in the country. The French plastic artist, Marcel Duchamp moved to Argentina in 1918-1919. Glass signed Gallé, Charder, Leverre, Schneider, Muller and other French firms. They were bought in flower shops and were given to ladies with beautiful floral arrangements. Some furniture manufacturers travelled to international fairs and bough the patterns to produce the furniture in Argentina, such as the furniture firm Englander and Bonta, who bought the patterns in Italy. It is worth mentioning that in Argentina we have the largest community of Italians outside of Italy, as it is estimated that 70 percent of the inhabitants have at least one Italian descendant, followed by Spanish immigrants. The most Important furniture stores in Argentina: Comte is founded in 1934 (under the direct management of Jean Michel Frank in 1940). Nordiska (Swedish company established in 1934). Churba in 1960, a company that brought foreign designers to present their furniture in the country: Denmark: (Arne Jacobsen, Finn Juhl, Bender Madsen, Ejner Larsen, Poul Kjaerholm, Hans Wegner) Sweden: (Hans Agne Jakobsson, Gustavsberg) United States: (Herman Miller) Finland: (Lisa Johansson, Folke Arstrom, Tapio Wirkkala, Alvar Aalto, Timo Sarpaneva) Swedish Factory: (Orrefors) Italy: (Littala, Vico Magistretti, Emma Gismondi, Gae Aulenti, Angelo Mangiarotti, Elio Martinelli, Gianna Celada, Angelo Mangiarotti, Mario Bellini, Carlo Scarpa) Finland: (Olivia Toikka) Plata Lappas (Lappas Silver): a goldsmith shop founded in 1887 in Argentina by Alcibiades Lappas of Greek origin. In 2019, in Argentina took place “the Art Deco world congress” . Argentina currently has more than 100 Art Deco buildings and another 90 Art Nouveau buildings throughout the city of Buenos Aires. Argentina is a country that has not been involved in many wars, which is why it has been a refuge for works of art and antiques from different periods of time, unlike European countries. That is way many collectors, museums and antique dealers from all over the world visit it, you should not miss the opportunity to visit this great country.
  • Attributed to:
    Walt Disney Productions (Author)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 31.89 in (81 cm)Width: 19.69 in (50 cm)Depth: 0.79 in (2 cm)
  • Style:
    Mid-Century Modern (Of the Period)
  • Materials and Techniques:
    Wood,Hand-Carved,Polychromed
  • Place of Origin:
  • Period:
  • Date of Manufacture:
    1940s
  • Condition:
    Wear consistent with age and use. Minor losses.
  • Seller Location:
    Buenos Aires, AR
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU2027345699232

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