Artist's Lay Figure

There's something sweet and vulnerable about this artist's lay figure from France circa 1860-1880.

It's life-size, made of wood and metal, with a painted papier-mâché head. Note the curvature of the femurs, the jointed fingers, and the pronating forearms, all with adjustable tensioners in the joints. I'm not sure why the rib cage seems inadequate. 

In order to serve its purpose as a clothing model for painters, I'm supposing that the musculature would have been bulked out in muslin and cotton batting.

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