Art Deco Pierette Female Figural Trinket Dish

We are offering a rare view of the past in the form of our lovely antique Art Deco Pierette female figural trinket dish. We imagine that she used to perch on the hall table or the bedroom dresser, waiting to keep safe her owner's cards, keys, coins, rings, powder puffs, or whatever else they wanted her to hold. In keeping with a favorite conceit of the Art Deco movement, our Pierette trinket dish is dressed in the loose, light-colored blouse (made elegant with two strips of gold braid), wide pants and traditional shoes of Pierrot, the Commedia dell'Arte clown. Please note, however, that our fashionable lady's persimmon-colored shoes match the elegant persimmon strips at the ends of her sleeves and pants. This Pierette trinket dish is no clown! Indeed, we believe that she is simply lounging in silk pajamas that are evocative of a Pierrot costume. Our Pierette trinket dish has no cracks, chips or breaks that we could find. Her colors - muted to begin with - have become more so with the passing of time and the effects of normal wear. She measures 3-3/8" tall and 7" in length. A tag that was left on her back by a prior owner indicates that she was made in Germany. We have left the tag in place for her new owner. Based on the Pierette's face and other details we think that she probably was made in Germany during the 1920's or 1930's, but there is no way to prove this from her markings (see our photographs). This is a very unusual and beautiful piece!

BRIEF HISTORY: Pierrette is the female version of Pierrot, who was a stock male character from 17th Century Italian pantomime and the Commedia dell'Arte. This form of entertainment became very popular and the Italian troupes performed in France and other European countries. Pierrot's character in postmodern popular poetry, fiction, visual arts - as well as works for the stage, screen, opera and concert hall - is that of the sad clown, pining for the love of a lady. In the 17th Century, Pierrot's lady was named Columbine, and she generally broke his heart and left him for the Harlequin character. The actor playing Pierrot performed unmasked, with a whitened face, and wore a loose white blouse with large buttons and wide white pantaloons. The defining characteristic of Pierrot in 17th Century drama was that he was seen as a fool, always trusting, and always the butt of pranks. Pierrot as the buffoon held the European stage for the first two centuries of his history. Then there was a shift in attitude towards the forlorn character and a respectful, even sympathetic attitude became evident in the plays of Jean-Francois Regnard and the paintings of Antoine Watteau. This sympathetic attitude deepened in the 19th Century with the Romantic movement, which of course influenced the Art Noveau and Art Deco movements.

Shipping for this lovely German Art Deco Pierott trinket dish is $20.00 to the 48 contiguous United States. Please contact us for a shipping quote outside the lower 48 United States @ myantiquarians@gmail.com