Expand Your Vintage Vocabulary Post #22

05/30/2012

Expand Your Vintage Vocabulary Post #22

Today I'd like to introduce you to "piano babies", which were usually a pair of boy and girl figurines that were made of porcelain, sometimes painted bisque or sometimes glazed. Their purpose was to sit atop a piano, keeping the piano scarf from sliding off the slippery surface. Why did one need a piano scarf? Well, we're talking the Victorian era here, and there were a lot of unnecessary frills. Piano scarves were decorative, fringed and embroidered silk scarves that prevented the piano from getting scratched when you set the piano babies on it. Wait a minute. That's circular reasoning if I've ever heard it!

This ceramic pair of piano babies is for sale in my booth at the Antiques Market of Williamston for a mere $38. They don't have the exquisite detail you'll find on the painted bisque piano babies, but they'll do the job for you just the same:

Here are two sets of delicately hand painted bisque piano babies to be sold at an auction:

Photo Credit: Coyle's Auction Gallery

Heubach of Germany was a major doll manufacturer, and also made many gorgeous piano babies. The set of painted bisque piano babies below was made by them in the late 1800's, and was estimated to bring around $700 to $900 at auction:

Photo Credit: Shapiro Auctions

So if you plan to have a grand piano in your home someday, be sure to purchase a charming set of piano babies to keep your piano scarf from sliding off!

Mitzi

May 30, 2012 6:19:15 AM | Vintage Vocabulary