An Evocative Early 20thC Male Mannequin by Siegel & Stockman Paris; no. 17362

SOLD

Origin: French
Period: Early 20th Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1915-20
Height: 44.5 inches
Width: 17 inches
Depth: 9 inches (at maximum)

The wooden male youth form having articulated upper arms and flesh coloured painted legs, cotton ribbed socks and burgundy brogues, the torso stamped Siegel Paris, with no. 17362.

The dummy is incomplete with the hands and head missing; though it is so wonderfully evocative this is part of the charm. The shoes on this example are more scarce and are simply superb.

V.N. Siegel of Siegel & Stockman, Paris, established in 1867, experimented with articulated legs, arms and wooden hands with bendable digits in an effort to more closely mimic human activities and later in 1925 startled the display industry with modern abstract mannequins closely following the Art Deco style. The company are still very much in operation today.

This is just so very French, the quality of its design still shines through the flaking paint and missing parts, the story it tells even by being stationary is something to behold. It now proves brilliantly decorative merely stood in a corner, elegant, yet just ever so slightly macabre.

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