Musique d'Infanterie Légère - Silbermann No.16

Hello,

I've been searching for ages for some cut-out Silbermann figures for my collection. I finally succeeded; I was able to acquire a small collection at an auction in France.

What I hadn't noticed in the auction photos is that many of the figures came from black and white sheets and were hand-painted, or, as in this example, repainted to suit the needs of the previous owner.

Therefore, the title is misleading and should actually read "Musique d'Chasseurs à pied" (Music for Foot Chasseurs).

This Figures from sheet No. 16 were simply partially repainted to create a band for the foot chasseurs, which Silbermann never actually produced. The leather equipment was blackened, the epaulettes and shako pompoms were recolored—and most strikingly, the red trousers were painted blue and given yellow piping. I think this is a wonderful example of the creativity of figure collectors from a bygone era.

Unfortunately, the new paint has flaked off again in some places – it looks particularly odd on the trousers. Almost as if the figures can't decide what they want to be: light infantry or foot chasseurs.

These figures are from Silbermann's first series with the slightly smaller figures (8 cm tall). They were first printed between 1848 and 1853.

Best regards,

Andreas