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They range from the serious, such as an important painting by a listed artist or an early example of travel photography,

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Adela & Mark Meadows

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to the functional--a tole chandelier perhaps or some vintage cork-screws and tastevins.  

And then there are those pieces that are sublimely decorative, such as a colorful poster of Manhattan originally used in a circa 1950 French grammar school classroom or a pair of papier mâché geese that are like folk art sculptures.

Whatever the item, we always strive to make each of our offerings something that is "just as unique as you are".

Each issue, we use this page to put the spotlight on an item from our extensive inventory of antiques and vintage decorative arts...be it a piece of  delicate Venetian glass,  a glorious piece of art pottery, or an elegant fine art print.

This time our focus is on the aforementioned papier mâché.

Papier mâché is a French term that literally means chewed paper. The Chinese used it as early as 2 B.C. to make helmets that survive to this day. From China, the use spread to Persia and Japan where masks and other items used in various festivals were crafted of layers of treated paper. The first European country to embrace the medium for the making of decorative arts was France back in the seventeenth century  and it is from there that we get the term papier mâché.

For this issue of www.meadowscollection.com, we have three different items in papier mâche:

The first is a vintage automaton of Le Chat Botté or Puss in Boots. In the strictest definition, an automaton is something that is able to move itself...ours has been loved to the point of not being able to much more than limp along, but that's part of what makes it so appealing. It's more on the order of a kinetic sculpture!

The story of Puss in Boots comes to us from a seventeenth century French writer, Charles Perrault (1628-1703). In 1697, he published under the name of his son, Pierre, a book, Histoires ou Contes du Temps Passé avec des Moralities. The book's subtitle is Contes de Ma Mère l'Oye better known as Tales of Mother Goose. In the book are such well-known tales as Sleeping Beauty, Little Red Riding Hood, Bluebeard, Cinderella, and Tom Thumb.  Perrault did not create the tales on his own, but rather he recorded the spoken tales of years gone by before they disappeared from memory.

And thus we have the tale of Puss in Boots and how he taught "the Marquis de Carabas" that an inheritance isn't necessarily the best way to gain riches. The moral of the tale involves learning that taking what you already have and using a bit of ingenuity can go a long way.

From Mother Goose, we go to a pair of geese.

I don't know the history of these adorable geese...they are life size and have molded features including the feathers on their wings.

Prehaps they were used in a gourmet food shop to advertise fois gras or they could have been part of a theatre setting...but whatever their origin, they are a real kick!

Note: they are shown here outside enjoying a bit of sightseeing, but are better left to adorn an interior setting as papier mâché and moisture do not make a good combination!
 

And our third papier mâche item in this issue's Peek into the Gallery is also quite unusual...it's a French Carnival head for Mardi-Gras. Mardi-Gras is a grand party celebrated in many different parts of the world...New Orleans in the United States, Nice and Douarnenez in France, Venice in Italy, Brazil's Rio de Janiero, etc. Each venue has its own unique traditions surrounding the celebration.

This vintage Mardi Gras head comes to us from a long ago Douarnenez celebration in France and it holds the distinction of being part of the huge official Den-Paolig or paper person that is made to decorate the town's market place.  Each year a different fanciful character is created out of papier mâche...sometimes over nine feet in height...and tradition calls for the entire effigy to be burned at a huge community bon-fire as part of the closing ceremonies...how our guy escaped remains a mystery.

You'll find further details of all three of these unique items in this issue's Shop in Your Slippers pages.