This charmer is one of a handful of old carved articulated figures today, a few of them straight out of a marvelous West Coast collection of folk/self-taught/outsider art, and a couple, including this one, found at a show closer to home. When it rains it pours... seems like its been forever since I had a good articulated figure, and now a number of them at once. I thought quite a nice thing to list them all at once, as finding the right home for teach of them is a matchmaking sort of endeavor! For me, carved figures like this are as close to animate beings as handmade things can be, and I love the process of photographing them as a sort of "getting to know you" experience, through which their very individual personalities (and souls, I would say!) reveal themselves, including through discovering how they are able to bend, move, sit, etc. This beautiful fellow never had arms--perhaps deemed unnecessary, as he was made to dance-- but happily a carved nose, and ears that stick out, and tenderly drawn wonderfully human graphite drawn face, which makes him one of my favorites ever. And then those dainty little boots!
11" t x 2 5/8" w. One boot appears to have been glued in place at some point, so does not move--I presume because of some loss to the joint holding it, through the wire is still in place and it is not noticeable until you try to make him dance. Otherwise very good overall condition with a nice dry patina. There is the remnant of a wooden dowel in the hole in his back, which with a little work one might extract. It seems you can still hang him from a nail on the wall; the wood in the plug is pretty soft and can be pressed into or dug out enough.
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