Royal Dux “Travelling Boy with Dog” – Elly Strobach-Königová.

I found this little Royal Dux figure here in Sydney and bought him simply because I liked him. Only afterwards did I discover that the model is attributed to Elly Strobach-Königová (1908–2002), one of Royal Dux’s important designers of the 1930s and 1940s.

The figure is 15 cm high and impressed 935 / 44, with a printed ROYAL DUX / CZECHOSLOVAKIA mark. The boy is dressed in loose blue trousers, neckerchief and a wonderfully jaunty green hat. Slung over his shoulder is a bundle containing a small dog.

What particularly appeals to me is his expression. His head is tilted back and his eyes look upward with an unmistakable sense of surprise or wonder. He is actually best viewed from a slightly lower position, where the direction of the gaze becomes much clearer. He seems to have suddenly encountered something new — perhaps simply the sky, or perhaps something much larger than himself.

The discovery of the designer’s name was especially pleasing because I already owned another Royal Dux child figure by Strobach-Königová: a boy seated on a toadstool, staring down in astonishment at a tiny insect. One is surprised by the minuscule; the other by the immense.

Two very different figures, two different angles of perception but both animated above all by the eyes.

The link to my other figure by Elly : https://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/149468-boy-on-toadstool--elly-strobach-knigo?in=activity

H : 15 cm