
Codie Lyons
Associate Specialist
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Sold for US$38.40 inc. premium
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Associate Specialist

Head of Department, Private & Iconic Collections, North America

Specialist, Head of Sale
Mannequins are widely used both as display and as guides for artists. The earliest known example was found in King Tut's tomb. The French are credited with the wide-spread use of the fashion mannequin, when dolls were dressed in the latest fashions and sent to nobles to disseminate styles. After Alexis Lavigne established the first French fashion school in 1847, he invented the soft metric tape measure and developed a series of tailor's dummies. He then went on to open a mannequin house, creating a variety of forms for dressmakers and tailors to more easily create their visions and display their wares. Dress-forms and tailor mannequins are typically simpler, with torsos and no arms, although they sometimes have legs to provide stability.
Life-size articulated mannequins are a common feature in an artist's studio and have been used since the Renaissance. Intended as a means of improving and refining the drawing or painting of figures mannequins were crafted to simulate the flexibility of the human body. Artist mannequins are distinct from fashion mannequins as they are fully articulated to allow the figures to be configured into any position possible for the human body. Little is known about who made these highly individualized models. Many were passed down from master to student, or changed hands by sale, gift, or inheritance.
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