Posted 9 years ago
mcheconi
(42 items)
Found this chalkware piece for sale on local ebay. It was in fair condition, a bit dirty and with the original painting peeling off in some spots, some chipped corners and a glued broken hand.
Did a complete restoration and repaint. Can't tell the age for sure but the hair style seems to be from the 1930s. Looks like it was some kind of cosmetics shop display. It measures 8.2 inches wide (21cm) by 13.3 inches high (34cm) by 3.5 inches deep (9 cm).
The second pic shows the original condition of the piece. The third picture is an ad from 1937 and the fourth picture was found on the internet by kyratango, following a tip from dr. neon (thanks guys!). (UPDATE: the fourth picture was sent by dr. neon, from the piece he owns)
I am making a wooden base for it and will upload a pic as soon as I get it mounted to it.
She looks like perhaps help Perfume sample . Unfortunate that the product she was selling was not printed on front .
You're probably right Manikin. She seems to be applying a drop of perfume behind her ear or applying a cream to her cheek. The product or maker name was probably painted over at some point or maybe never existed. I think of choosing a pretty art deco typeface and making a nice decal to apply to this piece. Not sure which brand to choose.
Manikin, why did you delete your posts?
She's LOVELY. You did a super job with the restoration!! The finger wave hairstyle definitely looks 1930s. What a find.
I would leave just as she is . Was she that color when found ? I deleted all my posts because they were showing up on sites without my permission :-(
I never collected just bust mannequins but many people do . Lovely
Manikin, the color was slightly different. I tried to find the exact same one, which was a reddish clay tone, but found only a regular clay tone called "kraft brown". It is very similar and the effect is about the same. Comparing the firs and second pictures you can notice the tone difference. I am sorry you had to take such drastic measures. Your posts were a great source for research.
Thank you Efesgirl. I am very cautious when restoring stuff. I agree with you about her hair style.
If she was never painted in colors then I would leave her . Redoing face paint to make her look wonderful you need to airbrush it on . If your a good artist she would look beautiful but I have seen re paint jobs go south many times . The eyebrows almost always blended into eye shadow which takes air brushing to look authentic . She might need a touch of pale lip color if you leave her as she is . I am sorry I had to pull mine but again it is the world wide internet and if someone uses your collection without permission we have no say . I have seen the boy before and he would have had arms . He is charming :-)
Manikin, I wasn't thinking about appling any color to her face, The monochromatic effect is just great and I believe it was originally made to look like this. I tought of applying a light stain to make the hair and face features more evident, since the casting is really good. She has fine eyebrow lines and even delicate eyelashes. I also wanted her to have that great vintage look. But I value your opinion very much, so I decided to leave her as she is. I will mount het to a wooden base cause I don't want to to touch her everytime I have to move her around.
Manikin: Did you like my mannequin boy? Yes he's cute and the painting is very good. I have some videos for you:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q04KSp2DlO4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um1bF2eB45M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=joPfKgpv8cg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ct0FKMqW6w
mcheconi, Those were great ! Thanks for sharing them I enjoyed seeing them :-) I wish I could have had a better look at sculter in 2nd video to see if it was Margit Nilsen .
Many mannequins and busts are found in mono coloring with just slight change in color for hair and eyebrows and lashes , I think you girl is wonderful and would be sought after my collectors because of her serene look and that she will hold something to display . Love love her !
Manikin, I knew you would like the videos. I was trying to know more about these plaster displays and found this British Pathé channels on YouTube. They have an entire channel devoted to vintage fashion, where you will probably find many other videos of interest:
https://www.youtube.com/user/VintageFashions
Here in Brazil it is extremely rare to find antique mannequins and shop displays mainly because the markets were too small and restricted to a few major cities like Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. This piece was found in Blumenau, a city in the south of Brazil that was colonized by Germans, There are still some business that date from the 1800s there and many objetcs that were brought by the German pioneers.
She may have came from France as they did do these types along with USA not so much Germany . When you received her did you leave eyebrows and eyes untouched ?
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-ART-DECO-MANNEQUIN-HEAD-DISPLAY-15-1-2-/161856791517?hash=item25af6aa3dd:g:KAQAAOSwFnFV9ILg
Here is example how one might look if painted staying in mono coloring Just darkening the hair eyebrows and eyes a bit . Beautifully painted
Manikin, yes they were left untouched. They had no color on them, just the plain reddish clay tone all over the piece, that was chipped and dirty in some spots. The hand in the front had a crack from a previous break that was glued back on, leaving a crack I managed to fill with vinyl putty used to fill cracks on walls. Some fingers were also chipped and were restored with plaster and carefully sanded to follow the original forms.
Oh Wow! I checked the ebay link, it is gorgeous.
She is one of the most elegant items I have seen on CW. I can hardly wait to see her on her wooden base!
I looked at this earlier and was dumbfounded again with your impeccable taste. Another very enviable piece. Something I always wanted, and also a plaster male to model the ancient helmets of many wars. It must have been what I think was maybe a face cream that she shows a pose directly from the early half of the twentieth century. You also did most fine job of the restoration. Looks fine the way it is, but I am sure enough of your work, that it would look as good, semi gloss with some color ! I could also see some nice wooden base, and not sure but a nice bronze or brass decorative furniture mount would work. I have a brass one, dark
that I found but I believe it is 11 or 12 inches or 27.97 cm. wide
bladerunner, my good friend thank you! I am mad about this era's aesthetics. Can't think of another time when everything was made with such nice balance between beauty and function, from heavy machinery through daily objects and fashion. I tried to keep it as I found it and thanks to Manikin's wise advice, I will leave as it is except for the wooden base, that will keep me from touching the fragile plaster she's made of. All I can tell is that this is a rare find down here and that I was lucky again!
Btw loved the videos also that you posted for Maniquin, she must have loved them ! May need to do much less work to this. All you need is a vintage cream jar or perfume bottle as it will add a lot of glam. Since this bust also has some hands in the piece, it would be quite rare to see another one. Maybe will look into my 30's to 50's catalogs to see if they made anything similar. Super to see this rare piece.
bladerunner check the British Pathé channels too. They have more than 80.000 videos...I guess I have entertainment for life now.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YJTmI36PMvo/TxBEENux9sI/AAAAAAAAG8E/ZFCb4XbN_vE/s1600/Chanel+vintage+no.5+advertisement.jpg
https://fromthebygone.files.wordpress.com/2015/10/mystikum-perfume-ad-photo-c1925.jpg
Most early display mannequins have a matte finish no gloss . IF i were going to do anything to her and that is IF I might make fingernails and lips with touch of gloss use acrylic finish semi gloss and if you don't like it can just paint over it .
PS that is clear semi gloss no color :-)
Oh Manikin...now I'll have to find a perfume bottle as cool as those in the ads you showed me LOL
I meant to say semi gloss or matt but definitely no high gloss. I did have a black manniquin head with very high gloss and high gloss red lips which I would definitely never change because it was made that way and looked expensive.
i've got this same piece. suppose to have 'diadermine' embossed in base she's has under her hand and holds a can of Diadermine
dr.neon wow thanks ! can you post a photo of yours please :-)
I'll try having someone who works for me do it in next few days. I can't do it myself
Thanks anxious to see yours dr,neon !
I have pictures of mine if you will give me your email i will send to you..can not get them to post here.
Dr. Neon, you can send the pictures to checoni@hotmail.com.
Fond one:
http://www.leboncoin.fr/collection/868667604.htm
kyratango...oh my! this is great! Thank you!
kyratango GREAT !!! I do wonder the name is embossed in bottom on the one you found ? I wonder if it could have been sanded down that far on mcheconi's ?
I'm editing this post to register dr. neon and kyratango's find.
Hair looks different his is more curly ? odd huh
You're welcome!
DrNeon gave the brand, which is well known in France :-)
Manikin, may it be à remold or another modèle ?
Added kyratango's pic and an ad from the 1930s.
So this is a French piece as Manikin suspected!
Great old Ad looks just like her ! I have to say I like your unpainted version of her better :-)
Manikin, thank you! Isn't the ad perfect? Thanks to you, dr. neon and kyratango, this post now gathers valuable and intersting information. I am still puzzled about mine having no brand name on it. dr neon sent me two pictures of his piece and the name DIADERMINE is carved on the base (bass relief), not embossed.
That is what I meant it was carved and yours would have had to be sanded a long time to remove . I think yours was never finished and painted or name carved in and is very beautiful as is !
maybe it was filled in and smoother
dr. neon, yes, maybe it was filled with plaster and sanded, then painted over. There's no sign of the brand name.
Finding the origin of this piece inspired me to finish the wooden base. Now she seems happy again.
Personally, I think yours looks much better than the one in the photo on the right!
stunning ! love her on base and new photo !!!
Thank you Efesgirl & Manikin! dr. neon allowed me to add a picture of his piece, what I did now. She's holding...Diadermine and her skin looks fantastic even after all these years! What a great product LOL! Thank you dr. neon for the tip, the pics and for your kindness.
Great new pics ! Thanks DrNeon for sharing yours :-)
Very nice to see the new pics, thought at first it was something I missed. The neon version is beautiful also but the long can is not a great fit. Mani is right about the restoration being hard to hand paint, If possible the airbrush works great. I love how the ad you found mirrors your piece and what should have gone with it. The cobalt glass creme jar would be a nice find. With a label still attached very hard to find. I always thought a Noxema old glass jar would work good here also. I remember when we threw them out into the bush junk yard.
bladerunner22 I agree, I won't try to hand paint her. Maybe in the future, if I get to know someone with the skills to do it properly using an airbrush and following the style of that bust that Manikin linked us to. I already tried to find a Diadermine jar on ebay, but there's only a couple of them, without labels and the lid. will keep looking around, maybe someday...
Found one in a lot in France :
http://www.delcampe.net/page/item/id,82513657,var,Lot-de-produits-beaute-anciens-Shampoing-brillantine-parfum-cremes-Debut-20eme-siecle-jusqu-annees-1950,language,E.html
Ooops, old sale, closed !
kyratango...Great find! It was in really good shape, unfortunately it was sold in 2013...I saved the picture, it shows the label pretty well. Thank you! The other items showed in the pictures were also cool...I have to control myself to avoid starting a new collection LOL
kyratango...yes I saw it...:´( ....we'll find another one....:)
kyratango, there's this L'Occitane cream that comes in this vintage look jar:
http://fr.loccitane.com/cr%C3%A8me-pr%C3%A9cieuse-immortelle,74,1,24546,626219.htm
Hey, that's a good cream, but for your bust (and purse) better to find original Diadermine ; -)
Your last photo you just posted has had repainting on eyebrows eyelids and mouth , I still prefer yours just as she is far more stunning ! And she should be blonde like model on Ad I wonder why they made made the 2 we saw painted were brunette ?
mcheconi please email me at manikin1234@hotmail.com
Manikin, just did it.
check your email ok
Is the first photo with the new wood base, nice addition ?
Just stopped to love this again :-) and say Hi
Hey Manikin thanks! Hope you are doing great my friend!
Waving Hi and hope to see another girl like her this year. Merry Christmas mcheconi !