FITZGERALD, ZELDA SAYRE
A group of paper dolls painted by Zelda Fitzgerald for her daughter, Frances Scott Fitzgerald ("Scottie"). [Circa 1927]. These appear to represent the costume of the Court of Louis XIV. There are 8 dolls (both male and female), and six items of clothing, two of which are affixed to figures, a total of fourteen items. The figures stand about 13 inches (33 cm) tall, and are painted in watercolor and gouache over pencil outline. Various defects, including losses to portions of a few of the figures, generally in very good condition.
These curiously androgynous paper dolls, with their pronounced musculature, are typical of Zelda Fitzgerald's early painting. A similar set is reproduced in Matthew J. Bruccoli's book The Romantic Egoists, 1974. The costumes shown by Bruccoli are similar to the present group; these too would appear to be French court figures. Zelda Fitzgerald used Louis de Giafferri's work L'histoire du costume feminin francais as a sourcebook for costume.
Sally Cline, in her book on Zelda Fitzgerald, states that the dolls offered a way for Fitzgerald to communicate with her daughter, who was about six years old, though it appears that they were never considered playthings in the conventional sense. A copy of Bruccoli's book, inscribed by Scottie Fitzgerald to the present owner (who curated a show of Zelda's paintings for the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts) is included in the lot.
Provenance: direct gift from Frances Scott Fitzgerald to Henry Flood Robert Jr.