An Expressive Early 20thC Fabric Pierrot/Pierrette Boudoir Doll
SOLD
Origin: French
Period: Early Twentieth Century
Provenance: Unknown
Date: c.1920-30
Height: 26 inches
Modelled as Pierrot/Pierrette, having a moulded fabric head with painted vamp features wearing the original pale orange and black clowns outfit.
The condition of the doll is generally sound, though there is one pom-pom missing to the blouse, a loose section of material to the rear of the neck and the nose to the face is slightly depressed; otherwise in good original order.
Impressionistic of seductive, long-limbed ladies, boudoir dolls were produced mainly in France and Spain between 1920 and 1930. Unlike most dolls they were made to be placed on beds and in boudoirs. The dolls today are sought after because of their classic artistic styling and, often, their art deco look.
The story of Pierrot is one of unrequited love and was fashioned to Parisian tastes by Jean-Gaspard Debureau, a Bohemian-French actor and mime who popularized the Pierrot character through his silent mimes.
This is thus, a slightly androgynous doll, with a theatrical theme and one that is extremely evocative of not just the period but of French theatre and culture.