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Bust

Pierre Imans French

Not on view

In 1896 Imans began producing unconventional, naturalistic mannequins in wax. Unlike the generic, faceless fashion dolls that decorated shop windows across Europe, Imans’s proxies donned face paint, resin eyes, eyelashes, and wigs of human hair. What is more, they bore names and were photographed as chic celebrity types in marketing catalogues. Imans refused to call his wax figures "mannequins." Their realism and elegant modeling render them veritable sculpture, modern portrait busts that hover fascinatingly between high art and popular, commercial appeal.

Bust, Pierre Imans (French flourished 1890s–1940s), Painted wax, residual hair, silk ribbon, cotton net, and resin, French

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Fashion Museum, Bath and North East Somerset Council, UK / Bridgeman Images

Bust, Pierre Imans (French flourished 1890s–1940s), Painted wax, residual hair, silk ribbon, cotton net, and resin, French
Bust, Pierre Imans (French flourished 1890s–1940s), Painted wax, residual hair, silk ribbon, cotton net, and resin, French

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