{"product_id":"three-hand-painted-victorian-caroler-figures-elongated-folk-art-modelling-with-dry-brushed-antique-finish-muffs-bonnets-and-a-bell-hung-wreath-sold-as-a-set-c-1985-2000","title":"Three Hand-Painted Victorian Caroler Figures, Elongated Folk-Art Modelling with Dry-Brushed Antique Finish, Muffs, Bonnets and a Bell-Hung Wreath, Sold as a Set, c. 1985–2000","description":"\u003ch3\u003eThe Piece\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThree carolers, standing on snow, caught mid-verse with their mouths open.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eA \u003cstrong\u003ewoman in deep burgundy\u003c\/strong\u003e with a wide lace-edged bonnet tied under the chin, a caped collar and a large lace-trimmed muff held at her waist. A \u003cstrong\u003esecond woman in teal and grey\u003c\/strong\u003e, hooded, her hands buried in a muff of her own. A \u003cstrong\u003eboy in a mauve coat\u003c\/strong\u003e carrying a wreath hung with small gold bells.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe modelling is deliberately \u003cstrong\u003eelongated\u003c\/strong\u003e — tall, narrow figures on small oval bases, closer to carved folk sculpture than to naturalistic proportion.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe surface is the striking part. A \u003cstrong\u003eheavily textured, porous ground\u003c\/strong\u003e worked over with \u003cstrong\u003edry-brushed antiquing\u003c\/strong\u003e, so the raised lace, the fur trim and the gathered cloth all catch a pale highlight while the hollows stay dark. Faces are painted individually — brows, lashes, pink cheeks, open red mouths.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eEach stands on a \u003cstrong\u003ewhite textured snow base\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003ch3\u003eHistory \u0026amp; Provenance\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThese belong to the American Christmas folk-art revival\u003c\/strong\u003e, the wave of makers who spent the late 1980s and 1990s producing cast, hand-painted, deliberately antiqued figures for the seasonal market — work that looked carved and aged rather than moulded and new.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe dry-brushed finish is the whole technique.\u003c\/strong\u003e A nearly dry brush dragged across a textured surface deposits paint only on the high points, leaving the recesses dark. It is what makes a cast resin figure read as weathered wood or old plaster from three feet away, and it has to be done by hand on every piece.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThe elongation is a deliberate quotation.\u003c\/strong\u003e Nineteenth-century wooden santos and painted folk figures are frequently stretched beyond life proportion, and the makers of this revival borrowed that directly. It is what separates these from the rounded, cheerful Christmas figures of the decades before.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eVictorian carolers are themselves a revival of a revival.\u003c\/strong\u003e Street carol-singing in bonnets and mufflers is the Christmas that Dickens described and the Victorians largely reinvented, and the 1990s then reinvented it again as decor. These figures are two removes from any real thing, and entirely honest about it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eDated on the construction — cast composition with hand dry-brushed antiquing and hand-painted faces, on textured snow bases: \u003cstrong\u003ec. 1985–2000\u003c\/strong\u003e. No maker’s mark has been identified and the set is offered \u003cstrong\u003eunattributed\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003ch3\u003eProduct Details\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003ctable\u003e\u003ctbody\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eObject\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eThree hand-painted caroler figures, sold as a set\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eQuantity\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eThree — two women, one boy\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eDimensions\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eTallest approximately 12 in; the boy approximately 9 in\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFigures\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWoman in burgundy with lace-edged bonnet, caped collar and lace-trimmed muff; woman in teal and grey, hooded, with muff; boy in a mauve coat carrying a wreath hung with gold bells\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eConstruction\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCast composition, elongated folk-art modelling, heavily textured surface with hand dry-brushed antiquing; individually hand-painted faces; textured white snow bases\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eMarks\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eNone identified. Offered unattributed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eEra\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ec. 1985–2000, on the cast construction, the dry-brushed antique finish and the folk-art proportions\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eCondition\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eVery good. All three figures are sound, complete and stand level without support. The painted surfaces are bright and unfaded, the dry-brushed highlights are crisp, and all three faces are intact and unrubbed. The gold bells on the wreath are present and attached. No chips, no cracks, no losses, no repairs and no restoration. Condition Guaranteed.\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eAvailability\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eSold as a Set of Three — 1 Set Available\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n  \u003c\/tbody\u003e\u003c\/table\u003e\n  \u003ch3\u003eWhy It Belongs in Your Home\u003c\/h3\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThree figures is a scene. One is an ornament.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThat is the entire argument for buying these together, and it is why complete sets are worth looking for. Stood in a group on a mantel, a hall table or a windowsill, they read as a moment happening — three people singing, at different heights, facing slightly different ways. Separated, they are three small statues.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe height is unusually useful. At nine to twelve inches they carry a mantel on their own without garland, lights or anything else, which is a rare thing in Christmas decoration — most of it needs company.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eThe palette is the reason they work in a room that is not decorated for Christmas. Burgundy, teal, grey and mauve against white are winter colours rather than holiday colours, and there is no red-and-green anywhere. They can go out in November and stay out through February without anyone calling them late.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eUp close the dry-brushed finish rewards attention — the lace, the fur, the gathered wool all picked out in pale highlight over dark. Photographs flatten this completely.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eAnd the open mouths are the detail that makes them. Somebody modelling these decided the figures should be caught mid-note rather than posed, and it is the difference between a decoration and a small piece of theatre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003eA note on care. \u003cstrong\u003eDust with a soft dry brush.\u003c\/strong\u003e The textured surface holds dust in its recesses and a cloth will simply ride over the top and snag on the raised lace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKeep them dry and out of direct sun.\u003c\/strong\u003e Cast composition is porous and dry-brushed paint sits on the surface; damp swells the body from within and sunlight fades the antiquing until the modelling flattens out.\u003c\/p\u003e\n  \u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWrap them separately when they are put away.\u003c\/strong\u003e Elongated figures with thin bases are top-heavy, and stored loose in a box together they knock against each other for eleven months of the year. Tissue, individually, standing upright.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Viridian Eclection","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48047805268073,"sku":"VE-0766","price":165.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0651\/0093\/9369\/files\/1144D098-464A-44DC-8093-5E9CC79A9C41.jpg?v=1789320647","url":"https:\/\/viridianeclection.com\/products\/three-hand-painted-victorian-caroler-figures-elongated-folk-art-modelling-with-dry-brushed-antique-finish-muffs-bonnets-and-a-bell-hung-wreath-sold-as-a-set-c-1985-2000","provider":"Viridian Eclection","version":"1.0","type":"link"}