Bécassine de A.Bucherer

A rare beautiful detail

and hardly little known !!!

Several very characterized persons give evidence of an exceptional longevity in our imaginary: the Father Christmas, the Father Fouettard, d' Artagnan, Mickey, SnowWhite , Pinocchio, Charlot are anchored there for ever.

Bécassine also. She is a part of these heroes known of everybody, crossing borders and also mirror of our cultures never to go out of it. She is one of the rare feminine heroines really celebrate( with Alice ) and also one of the most charming with Charlot. Simple beings both, naïve, full of a disarming and hilarious willingness, we can only be amazed in the reading or the vision of their adventures.

Numerous albums were dedicated from 1913 to this delicious provincial girl, in the old fashion charm , redrawing a fresco often satyrique, at the same time Parisian and French habits and customs of our country.

Bécassine gave place to very numerous playful creations for children, the most known being the classical books and so known Reine Degrais's dolls.

There is others, magnificent, much less known, much rarer also.

Having presented you " Bécassine Casseuse d'assiettes ", I suggest to you discovering in detail

" Bécassine A.Bücherer".

WHO WAS A. BÜCHERER ?

A creator very innovative, of origin and settled to Amriswil, in Switzerland. From the 1920's, he finalized a completely exceptional metal body, in balls, totally articulated and extraordinarily flexible what allows to give to these creatures all the wished positions.

The patent of this invention seems to have been deposited at the same moment in Great Britain and in Germany and was exploited by its firm during a period of at least ten years but certainly more.

Bücherer had a representative in London, Henry Barnett who commercialized these dolls moreover known for Britishs. ( Cf Coleman). Reached us of him several types of toys -bicycles and tricycles-, characters,-driver or policeman, regional dolls, comic actors Mutt and Jeff, Charlot and so... Bécassine.

This one was the object even of the first question as had put me there is about ten years Madam Olivia Bristol of the House of London Christie's:

" You don't have " the "Bücherer? ".

Mutt and Jeff

On the occasion of the last Convention of the U.F.D.C. in New- Orlêans, within the framework of the exhibition " Everything except bisque " (by Dinner, Dolls & Tolys, N.SMITH), I moreover had the pleasure to discover of numerous of them: more than twenty figurines was presented and Bécassine, of course, a true performance, these charming small sujets being no or little known.

THE BÉCASSINE BÜCHERER

Known so in Great Britain, known also in the United States, she is paradoxically totally unknown in France!

It is true that Bécassine having been registered trademark as in the Commercial Court of Paris from 1910 (and not, - as I for a long time considered it because of a plug badly applied- in 1918, See opposite), the not import in France avoided the payment of rights and tax miscellaneous to her author.

About this patent, note that this deposit is of Mr Gautier and Languereau only for Bécassine. Their association will become actual for the group of " Semaine de Suzette " Publishing and its by-products only in 1917.

Let us see at first the dimension.

After consultation of several works evoking, briefly regrettably ! this very charming toy, and having very carefully measured that here presented, it seems that she measures definitively 19,5 cms, that is 7 3/4 ".

But there were two dimensions of figurines A. Bücherer :

- 16,5 cms or 6 1/2 "

- and 19,5 cms or 7 3/4", size of the Bécassine. Of this last one, there was only one. I noticed moreover that the character presented in New Orlêans were all of this same height.

The set of the body, completely amazing, allows to give her the most varied, the funniest poses, to sit her, or to hold her up without any difficulty.Arms and legs can take quite positions, even the most unusual, as to make a foot of nose! On the stomach, engraved well in the metal, represents her brandmark, without possible ambiguity.
Attribus, namely the head, the hands and the feet are in composition, very aesthetically real.The expression of the face reflects a not common liveliness. Note well that it is Bécassine with mouth as all very former Bécassine, with a very charming smile. Hands are beautiful, long and thoroughbred would call we, proportionned well feet and wearing fine black bootees molded in the mass.

Detail of the wrists' articulation
Articulation of knees

Brandmark on stomach
Articulations of hips, knees and wrists

The garment is in accordance completely , as by the pattern as by the complexions, with that drawn by Joseph Porphyre Pinchon, creator of this small heroine: green Dress with black "wheel" ( french term ), red front, here all in felt.

On the back of bottom of the skirt, down, is a label of tissue sewn to the machine so organized by origin, giving evidence of its place of manufacture of Switzerland, and from her destination to export with the aid of Kimport. *

Apron and gimpe are cotton white. The headdress, it, is a part integral of the head. It is molded very beautifully around the face.

* Supplementary information brought by Madam Agnes SURA :
Kimport was an firm of family which sold imported dolls and dolls of American artists from 1920 to 1960. They published a small quarterly magazine which gave informations about dolls and showed those that they had in sale.

We find again on her exactly the characteristics of Bécassine original. I happened to see a figurine looking like her enough but with a garment of beige felt and stripped skirt, which, however, did not appear to have been redone.

I think that it was about a " nearby sort " to use the term of our french books of biology studies Boulet & Aubry, but on any account of Bécassine, this last one not being able to be confused with close Breton silhouettes, the complexions of her dress making that she is really......: Bécassine !

To end and to give you a more precise idea on aticulations, I take a Bucherer's cycle subject from the site of
" Toy Museum Angela Prader Davos "
< http: // www.spielzeugmuseum-davos.ch/09_newslet ter_en.html >
Besides, see the connection of the metal and the foot in composition.

Hélène BUGAT-PUJOL

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