In the world of ventriloquist figure makers one of the more obscure but great makers was Art Sieving. Art was a carver and did architectural carvings as well as clocks and even a few ventriloquist figures. He himself did do ventriloquism and this was a personal figure he used that he called Slick. Jay Johnson, know for his figure Bob, actually started his career using a Sieving figure.
This is a full size 40″ figure which was carved in the likeness of Mortimer Snerd but if you look close you will see that his eyes are placed just opposite of Mortimers as well as his buck teeth. Also his nose is very asymmetrical which I really think is wonderful.
The paint is all original and in very good condition except for the very tip of his nose but it will remain as seen. When I unpacked him, watch the video, he was still in his original cloths but they were really falling apart and were very tattered so I re dressed him in this suit which is much more appropriate for this type character. Also his mouth, which is the only function, was done using a leather string which broke the first time I pulled the lever. Lee Dunn was here and he restrung the mouth and it works perfectly now.
I hope you enjoy seeing this rare ventriloquist figure.
Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com
Have you seen the Frank Marshall Tribute DVD, click here
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Ventriloquist Central is the brainchild of Dan Willinger and Steve Hurst. Dan is a ventriloquism enthusiast and ventriloquist figure collector. He has been collecting for over 25 years. He created the Ventriloquist Central Collection. It now has over 100 ventriloquist figures and over 50 of them are Frank Marshall figures. Steve is a ventriloquist as well as builder of ventriloquist figures. He also has a background in sales, marketing, building websites and computers. Because they both love the art of ventriloquism, the website Ventriloquist Central was born. For more information about the website, go to: http://www.ventriloquistcentral.com
Copyright 2013 by Dan Willinger and Steve Hurst
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A wonderful example of Art Sieving’s Vent figures. A excellent likeness of “Mortimer”. I’ve seen photos of other wood carvings ( not Vent figures) done by Art. He was truly a great artist. Thanks for the terrific photos of his “Mortimer”.