These are among my favorite finds ever, and exactly the sort of thing I am forever searching for, bringing total joy at their singular existence, and marvel at their tender, labor intensive execution.
It seems to me the uniforms could be c. late 19th century US Army, but I think look rather more like WWI French, and those mustached profiles do look rather French to me. Each one was hand drawn in pencil and colored pencil or crayon on scraps of stiff paper (it seems maybe some old trade cards), then meticulously cut out (the backs are nearly as good as the fronts), then carefully nailed to little pieces of wood--a brilliant solution I do think. There are three long pieces of wood with four soldiers each, lined up in a row, and then three individual soldiers mounted to their own little blocks, for a total of 15.
The tallest among them measure all of 2 5/8" tall. The rows of them are about 4" long. Individual ones are about 5/8" wide. Their great condition is pretty miraculous; there is a tiny scotch tape mend on the back of one but they're all standing tall without another tear that I can find. Truly wonderful.
These will be packed SUPER carefully for safe travel. (Blue and yellow blocks not included.)
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