It is so nice when I am contacted by folks wanting to have their Marshall figures join the Willinger collection.and this was the case with Robert Echols.
Robert is an antique dealer in CA and he deals in Old Darby Horses from carousels (also a very fine item to collect). In his travels he happened into an antique store in Pismo Beach, CA and found this wonderful Marshall figure. He held on to it for quite a number of years but when he found me he knew it had to come to reside here.
I have posted some pictures of his appearance as Robert found him and then pictures of how he looks now.
I have written many times about restoration on these figures and you can see that this Marshall was certainly deserving of the re-do. He was missing his wig, the leather under the chin, and he had been painted a number of times over the years. To me this means bring him back.
The end result is this fabulous Marshall figure which is almost identical to a figure that already resides here named Joe Doaks.
He also is the same face as Joe Flip who resides in the Vent Haven Museum.
This is definitive proof of the fact that Marshall used a duplicarver. because there are three of the same face.
This head has the original card still attached inside the head from Marshall’s Loomis Blvd shop so this figure was done in the late 40’s to early 50’s and I believe that this particular head’s duplicarver is the reason the leather is used under the chin. It may have not have been retooled for the wedge cut neck found in Marshall’s later figures.
This figure is a full 42″ tall and has only moving mouth function.
I hope you enjoy seeing him.
Click here to see the newest addition, Frank Marshall figure
Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com
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Dan Willinger is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. His collection of ventriloquist figures now numbers over 100 figures of which there are over 50 Frank Marshall figures. Because of his love for the art of ventriloquism, Mr. Willinger created the website Ventriloquist Central. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com
Copyright 2009 by Dan Willinger
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