When I saw this little fellow I
knew I had to buy him. He is so cute ( in my opinion).
Unfortunately I can not give information as to his maker because
there is nothing marked anywhere on him but I can tell you this he
is not a toy and who ever created this fellow did some fine work.
The head, hands and feet are of either wood dough ( plastic wood )
or composition. They are extremely heavy and remind me of how Finis
Robinson used plastic wood but the quality is far superior to his
work.
He stands 18" tall and his arms are stuffed muslin, his legs are
upper stuffed muslin and jointed at the knee and wooden lower leg.
His body is wood with shaped shoulders. This fellow has moving mouth
which works in reverse of normal by pushing up to open the mouth and
down to close it. The eyes are almost all around movement except
that they do not go to the right. They move up and down and to the
left so you can get that upper left look or lower left look ,
straight up , straight down and of course in the middle. All
controlled by the lever which comes out the bottom of the head
stick. A very complex set up in such a small head. The eyes are
wooden balls which have been painted. Very fine job.
His sailor suit is original and of the period which I would put in
the 1950's. It was put on during the making of the figure because
the head will not go through the shirts head hole so therefore it
had to be put on before the head was placed through into the body.
The head stick is pinned in so that it can't be removed. The pants
are nailed in place and there are no other traces of holes other
than the ones that are being used.
I have looked him over and I almost believe that this fellow may
have started life as a marionette head which was then reworked to
make this ventriloquist figure. In any event he is a great looking
character done over 60 years ago and I love him.
If you recognize this character and can identify him please let me
know.
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