Description
When the curtain rose on the second act, Clara in the third row squeezed her grandmother’s hand so tightly that the old lady gasped. Up on stage, the nutcracker prince marched forward in his tall hat and burgundy coat, and the whole theater seemed to lean in. Afterward, on the snowy walk to the tram, Clara marched the entire way, chin high, refusing to break character.
This nutcracker carries that same proud bearing, rising nearly five inches in deep burgundy. He belongs on a mantel among pine cones and candlelight, on a piano beside the Tchaikovsky sheet music, or at the center of a nutcracker collection that has grown one soldier at a time. Ballet students adore him, and so do grandparents who still remember their first Nutcracker performance. Unlike his wooden cousins, he will never be asked to crack a single walnut, which suits his dignity perfectly.
Look closely
- A tall nutcracker soldier painted in burgundy
- Stands about 4.75 inches high, with a 1.5 x 1.5 inch footprint
- True Limoges porcelain, its colors hand-applied in France
- Rochard is the maker
- Opens to keep an ornament hook, a ring or a ticket stub from the ballet
Give him to a young dancer after her first recital, and he will keep watch over every one that follows. Set him beside a real program from the theater, and the memory of that evening stays bright.
