Doe and Hope

Description

The life size artists study painted plaster and gesso mannequin head and shoulder torso bust model of a child, hand painted with blue eyes, black eyebrows and rose lips on a realistic skin toned base survives from an artist’s studio from the first quarter of the twentieth century.

The condition of the head is certainly decorative and remains stable but with a lot of wear and craquelure to the painted surface. There are the remains of some hair to the head. The front section of the torso base appears to be slightly later. The whole is covered in a spider web of hairline cracks to the top layer.

Humans are obsessed with self-representation and even though this is an inanimate object it has a tremendous power to attract, and perhaps also repel, like few others.