A Decorative Pair of Mannequin Shop Display Heads as a Flapper & Dandy
SOLD
Origin: English
Period: Early/Mid 20th Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1930-40
Height: 17”
Width: 5.5”
Depth: 8” (each & at extremities)
The hand decorated linen adult form heads, one modelled as a male Dandy with monocle, the other as a female flapper with bobbed hair, each in worn condition and mounted on ebonised turned bases, and surviving from the second quarter of twentieth century England.
The mannequin heads show areas of staining and wear, with some burn damages but the hand drawn decoration remains pleasingly visible to the mains. The stands are in good order and they both stand well. There are some particles rattling around inside of the heads and stamps to the reverses but they are indiscernible.
An unmistakable symbol of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ is the rebellious flapper; her dress flowing wildly, her hair chopped and bobbed, her knees exposed; flappers were essentially a generation of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behaviour.
Dandyism went transatlantic and film-starry in the 1920s and 1930s, and young men certainly knew how to wear a monocle, a tuxedo and a cape. As seen on this head, the dandy's social, cultural, and sexual standing is the monocle.
Huge fun, and possibly unique throwbacks to the roaring twenties.
Period: Early/Mid 20th Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1930-40
Height: 17”
Width: 5.5”
Depth: 8” (each & at extremities)
The hand decorated linen adult form heads, one modelled as a male Dandy with monocle, the other as a female flapper with bobbed hair, each in worn condition and mounted on ebonised turned bases, and surviving from the second quarter of twentieth century England.
The mannequin heads show areas of staining and wear, with some burn damages but the hand drawn decoration remains pleasingly visible to the mains. The stands are in good order and they both stand well. There are some particles rattling around inside of the heads and stamps to the reverses but they are indiscernible.
An unmistakable symbol of the ‘Roaring Twenties’ is the rebellious flapper; her dress flowing wildly, her hair chopped and bobbed, her knees exposed; flappers were essentially a generation of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behaviour.
Dandyism went transatlantic and film-starry in the 1920s and 1930s, and young men certainly knew how to wear a monocle, a tuxedo and a cape. As seen on this head, the dandy's social, cultural, and sexual standing is the monocle.
Huge fun, and possibly unique throwbacks to the roaring twenties.