I saw my first “Man Adjusting Boots” last summer. I thought to myself “if he were a she, this would be an erotic figure”. That was enough to convince me to buy it.
Just last month I was reorganizing some cabinets and started putting like with like. Without giving it any thought, I put him next to this figure of a woman adjusting her stockings that I found a couple years ago. I did an immediate double take. No question, they were a pair. Right under my nose the whole time.
A few days after this revelation, I spotted faience or earthenware versions of one and then the other listed in separate auctions by the same seller. By winning both auctions, I was able to keep them together.
Then, as improbable as it is given how rare these figures are, I spotted an additional man in a lot of five miniatures. The faience pair had not even arrived and here was another in porcelain. I acquired him too.
Several recorded examples of women adjusting stockings can be found in the Russian porcelain books as well as online. I have not come across any recorded examples of the “Man Adjusting Boots”. Its pairing with the “Woman Adjusting Stockings” proves that “Man Adjusting Boots” was meant to be an erotic figure. Perhaps the reason these men go unrecorded is that they are not recognized for the sexy things they are.
The porcelain examples may possibly have been made by a Russian Private Factory. “Woman Adjusting Stockings” is well established subject for Russian figures. I have not found any recorded examples of this particular model though. These figures may also be Continental in origin. Bohemia comes to mind as another possibility.
Same goes for the Faience pair. Russian or Continental. They seem like knock offs made after already popular figures. Same scenario as the Staffordshire bust of Alexander I. Twenty years or more after the originals. Speculation of coarse.
When you look at and handle these figures you go straight for the action. Starting from the legs, your eyes linger here and there as they travel around the form in your hands. Your mind is distracted to thoughts of real flesh and blood as you caress this symbol of your desire, be it man or woman. For a moment you are transported to a world of sensual pleasure. All brought on by this small object in your hands. That was its function as an erotic figure.
Porcelain figures 1840 to 1860.
Faience figures 1880 to 1900.
5.3 to 7.2 cm in height.
