Early vintage mannequins..

[Joe 90]

The two leading companies were Pierre Imans and Siegel, which would later merge to become Siegel & Stockman which is still in existence today. Both of these brands became famous during the Art Nouveau and Art Deco decades. In 1900, Stockman was selling almost 30,000 busts a year a few years before he met Mr Siegel, whose specialty was mannequins and metal accessories such as hangers. The company became Siégel and Stockman and was located in a big factory in Saint Ouen, near Paris.
At this time, Siegel & Stockman’s mannequins appeared to take on a hypnotic quality, inspiration for such figures in films like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis.

[Joe 90]

NEW MATERIALS: Siégel and Stockman introduce papier maché mannequins. Figures shed 100 pounds and become heat resistant. The older turn of the century mannequins were replaced as the Art Deco movement was that of modernism.

“The old mannequin, too realistic to respond to the abstract form could no longer fit into the window display with its effective and sober luxury as it is now conceived. This basic conviction prompted me to make an appeal to a new form of expression in order to bring about a timely rejuvenation and modernization.” (Siegel, 1925)

More promos of the newer type of mannequins at the time are shown below.

[Joe 90]

This is absolutely fascinating. I love history of any kind, especially documentaries and this would make a great film. Thanks, Joe 90. Well done.

I think your quite right Dark knight it would make a fascinating documentary.

[Joe 90]

In the early decades of the 20th century, it was easier to deflect criticisms about vulgarity by using partial display forms to model lingerie and corsets, rather than realistic female mannequins.
Siegel and Stockman went one step beyond to create mysterious mannequins that resembled aliens with luminescent eyes, bald heads and featureless faces. Their faces and bodies were abbreviated renditions of the human form, with expressions that seemed to mask feelings and retain a certain aloofness.
Below are images of workers crafting the mannequins during the Art Deco and Art Nouveau periods.

[Joe 90]

Today's mannequins :
- Mannequins are 6 inches taller.
- Mannequins are 6 inches smaller in size.
- Most female mannequins are size 8 - 10
- petite mannequins are not used.

I hope you have enjoyed my history lesson on mannequins and how they mirror society. I will be bringing this thread to a close soon and thank everyone for visiting.

[Joe 90]

Camille Clovis Trouille , worked as a master artist for Pierre Imans . He is remembered as surrealistic artist. Like most Surrealists there was controversy surrounding his work, his themes were anti-clericalism and eroticism.
His service in World War I gave him a lifelong hatred of the military, expressed in his first major painting Remembrance (1931). His contempt for the church as a corrupt institution provided Trouille with the inspiration for decades of pictorial blasphemies including 1944's Dialogue at the Cartmel.
Trouille was able to create extraordinary mannequins also.

[Joe 90]

The art of the window display, the allure of the thin bodies and regal poses that attracted people to walk up and down the boulevards. Inspiring Surrealist like Dali and changing beauty standards of the sexual revolution. It is amazing how much that the store mannequin is a reflection of social history.

[Joe 90]

Between 1890 and 1914 with the rise of the Art Nouveau style came the ascent of the Paris couture houses. Clothing designers at Maison Worth, Maison Paul Poiret, Jeanne Paquin and Lucille utilized publicity through advertising, fashion shows and shop windows.
Ready - to- wear lines of these designers had strong hints of Art Nouveau inspired floral prints and organic designs.
In contrast Art Deco was a combination of many different aesthetics and was spurred forward by the blossoming of art, ballet, theatre and films. Art Deco fashion relied heavily on beautifully textured richly dyed fabrics that lent depth to the simple angular lines of the dresses. These dresses relied more upon simple shapes combined with the bold colors and textures.

[Joe 90]

Androgyny - The Gender Crisis of the 1920s:
Many fashion critics describe 1920s fashion as having a gender crisis because of the cleaner lines and the de-emphasis on a woman's breasts and butt.
Women went to work during World War One, they had become more active in mainstream society and sports. No longer could they wear the heavy petticoats and corsets as they had before.
In 1916 Paul Poiret designed what was called the Picture Dress featuring a high waist and resembling the older bodice type dresses of the Victorian Era. But unlike those dresses the Picture dress allowed a woman more comfort while wearing it. It was designed to be worn at a wedding and other formal occasions.

[Joe 90]

It has been a long journey to complete this thread, it took longer than I had anticipated.
I hope you have enjoyed this trip back in time covering the history of mannequins and of the master sculptor Pierre Imans. I would like to end my posts with a splash of colour before I go.

[Joe 90]

The items displayed here are over 100 years old and are very rare. These mannequins can command high prices at auctions.

[Joe 90]

And this concludes my thread of early vintage mannequins. It is now time for me to return to the rest of the forum to enjoy the wonderful dolls of TDF.

[Joe 90]

Again, thank you Joe for this amazing historical collection. Great insight into how detailed this industry was.

I really liked your comment thank you AtomicPunk.

[Joe 90]

Anyone interested in past history can visit glamourdaze a wonderful site of high definition video shorts here:
https://youtu.be/4YBbcXKguzA

Image below, when mannequins melt.

bye bye..

[Mr Franz]

Bravo sir! Thank you so much for this, I enjoyed it immensely.