One of the early Ventriloquist figure Makers in the US was Shaw. He was a mannequin maker and did window displays but he also made vent figures.
I am happy to share with you this very rare wooden figure made by Shaw sometime around the turn of the 20th century. This figure is typical of his work in that it has leather for the mouth and the hands are the stylized carved fingers.
This figure stands 36″ tall and has his original wooden body. The head has been painted and the wig was also replaced but I decided to leave him as you see him. It is very possible that he may have been a black figure when he was first made because Shaw did many black figures but I am just not sure. Then again if you look at the color of the winker, which appears to be original paint it is not black. His winker and mouth are controlled by ring pulls.
A nice example of Shaw’s work.
Click here to see more pictures of this William Henry James Shaw Ventriloquist Figure
Dan
www.ventriloquistcentral.com
***************************************************
Dan Willinger 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. 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 2012 by Dan Willinger
NOTE: You may use this blog article provided you run it with the bio box intact. Please email a copy of your publication with the blog article in it to: webmaster@ventriloquistcentral.com
