Antique Papier Mache Mold Wooden Santa Claus HUGE 24.5 Vintage Christmas Figure

  

Antique Papier Mache Mold Wooden Santa Claus Figurine. The figurine is huge, standing 25 tall and weighs over 6lb, hand carved and very beautiful - he is just stunning! I bought this at an Estate Sale, the owner told me it had been in the family for years, apparently it is a papier mache mold, used for making models. Condition - the wood is very dried out and brittle in places. There are splits to Santa and the base, various nicks, nibbles, dings and other marks are all over him.

The most noteable damage is a chunk of wood missing from his coat at the side, I have half of the missing piece, but didn't want to ruin it by repairing it myself. He appears to have a waxy finish, but may also have been gilded at some stage as he does have a faint gold tone in places.

Wooden Santas were hand carved primarily from the 1930's through the 1960's, when paper mache items were most popular. The molds are carved from the wood of native fruit trees - usually jackfruit, santol, and mango. The preferred wood for carving is jackfruit, which is a medium-heavy, yellowish wood. It's soft enough to be easy to carve, but hard enough to hold detail. Once the carving was completed a coating of wax would be applied so that the thin layer of paper mache could'release' from the carving more easily when dried. A knife was used to cut down each side, through the paper mache thus pulling the paper mache off the wood in two halves.

The halves would then be seamed back together with paper mache and ultimately painted. Measures - approx 25" tall from base to hat tip, base is approx 7.5" wide. The item "Antique Papier Mache Mold Wooden Santa Claus HUGE 24.5 Vintage Christmas Figure" is in sale since Monday, October 11, 2021. This item is in the category "Antiques\Primitives".

The seller is "stitches_n_wishes" and is located in Bethesda, Maryland. This item can be shipped to United States.

• Region of Origin: Unknown
• Size Type/Largest Dimension: Medium (Up to 30in.)
• Style: Naive, Primitive
• Listed By: Dealer or Reseller
• Maker: Unknown
• Material: Wood
• Original/Reproduction: Original
• Date of Creation: Unknown
• Occasion: Christmas
• UPC: Does Not Apply
• Subject: Santa
• Brand: Unbranded
• Type: Santas
• Original/Licensed Reproduction: Original
• Item Height: 25"
• Features: Indoor
• Handmade: Yes
• Color: Brown
• Category: Antiques
• Signed: Unsigned