Handmade Ink and Watercolor French Courtiers and Flower Sellers Paper Dolls taxco silver overlay bottle Sepia toned ink text is

Sepia toned ink text is a bit lighter on some pages and darker on others but all completely readable and in very good condition

I love the long handle of this old wooden spoon or ladle

as in certain light the corners appear shinier

Not a lot in the way of details--a carved triangle for a nose

I really love the white head of the one pin stuck in it too

Handmade Ink and Watercolor French Courtiers and Flower Sellers Paper Dolls taxco silver overlay bottle Sepia toned ink text isI take these hand drawn and watercolored paper dolls as representing French courtiers and flower sellers from the era of Louis XIV or so, though I am not entirely sure when they were made and whether a specific purpose; the level of execution is rather above and beyond that of paper dolls made by or for a child to play with! Perhaps they were background characters in an elaborate puppet show? Or made as part of a maquette for an opera set design? In