Saturday, July 7, 2012

Courvoisier 'Woodgrain' Cels

Prepared and marketed by Courvoisier Galleries in the late 1930s, these celluloid images from the actual production of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs were trimmed and placed on airbrushed backgrounds. A wide variety of these cel setups were created and sold. These particular examples display a visible woodgrain background.

Old Witch. Measure 5.25" x 5.75".


Six Dwarfs. Measures 9.5" x 13". Sold for $5000 (USD) in 2011.


More Dwarfs. Piece measures 9" x 9" (image 6" x 8.25").


One common design was to place the character within a circle along with the name. The Dopey piece measures 6" x 6" (image 3.5" x 3")...





This original Snow White production cel is mounted on a a custom background painted to look like a Courvoisier presentation. Although no name was included...



The woodgrain backgrounds weren't always devoid of other imagery. In this Dwarf multi-cel setup, the bed frames are airbrushed in...

Dwarf Setup sold for $3000 in December 2011. Measures 7.5" x 9"


Deer and birds amongst the forest vines...

Animal Cel measures 9" x 8"


Snow with her blanket...

Snow Cel measures 5" x 6.5"
Images copyright Profiles in History 2012 Animation Auction catalog. Additional images from prior 2011 auction.


See the Courvoisier woodgrain "Gallery Series" in earlier post.

2 comments:

  1. I love the deer and birds. The wood grain works so well with them!

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    Replies
    1. Sheryl-- Yes, I've seen a number of other "forest animal" cel setups and they too have looked really nice on the woodgrain background.

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