Posted 10 years ago
hvillelady
(1 item)
This adorable baby was held up for sale at an auction my daughter & I attended last night. The auction was for an estate sale of an elderly lady who had just passed away. It was pouring down rain & the baby was soaked & dripping wet. I am by no means a doll collector, but I do have a few dolls on display that were from my childhood. I bid on her with the intention of drying her out & letting my granddaughter play with her, not putting her with my other dolls. When I saw how cute her smile was close up I knew I was going to keep her for myself. Imagine my surprise when I took off her clothes to let her dry & I saw the words "Shirley Temple" across the bottom of her neck. She is 16" with composition head, arms, legs, & chest plate. Her body is cloth. She is a baby with a bald head, I don't believe she ever had hair. Her head has damage, I suspect from the rain she was in all evening. A patch of skin started to come off right on top. The number "665" is stamped on her head right at the damaged spot. Her eyes shift right to left & she has eyelashes. She has two top teeth & three on the bottom. She is wearing a slip, bloomers, dress, & a bonnet but I found no tags on the clothes & they are a little ragged. I was wondering if someone could tell me how old she is & what the number on her head means.
The words "Shirley Temple" are across the bottom of her head in the back, not her neck.
Can you photo the mark ? Do her eyes move side to side ,called flirty eyes ? Yes she would have wore a wig over molded hair . I will await your reply . Number just refers to mold number . Getting wet is the worst for a composition doll did you dry her fast ? She could get more paint lifting so keep her very dry .
Nice find . ! wow
She is very collectible version of the Shirley doll as a baby .Circa 1930's . Will write more tomorrow and await your reply on her her eyes and photo of markings . She could be restored beautifully .
I did photo the mark but it's hard to see since her coloring is so light. Her eyes are flirty & also close to sleep. I thought since she was a baby she would not have any hair. Would it have been full & curly like the older dolls? And the round mark on her back? Did she make noise? Thank you for all your information.
You stumbled on a very nice find ! The 1935 Composition Baby Shirley Temple is not near as common to find as the full composition version vs yours with the cloth body and a crier box ( this box when she was tipped would make a noise like a cry and they are often not working ) They do have replacement ones . I have seen her with and without hair . The number on head and the spot that is missing paint makes me think she did have a wig , But she is correct without one also . I will show you 2 links one is mint in box so just to see her all original but do not look at price yours is not in that price area. The 2nd one is a restored one like yours and you might want to watch to see final selling price. It has molded hair under wig . The original clothes change price much higher and yours would have been wearing a tagged dressing gown with Shirley Temple on tag . Like one in the box ,
This one is a big larger they made her as a baby in several sizes
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Restored-Flirty-Eye-Shirley-Temple-Compo-Baby-20-/291166583899?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item43cae17c5b
This is one in box !
http://www.ebay.com/itm/16-034-Shirley-Temple-Flirty-Eye-Baby-Dressed-Doll-in-Original-Box-/281353001624?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4181f21a98&nma=true&si=1NBxsGzeAZpu8Q8MNfVIPxIL310%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
If you have a good doll hospital in your area your doll is worth having cleaned reapair crack above eye and they could airbrush her hair paint and face paint . It had to be done right by a pro not a do it yourself project. She could be ruined or made to last for next generation by restoring also her flirty eyes can be cleared and not so foggy with treatment . Love her and lucky you !
Thank you so much for all the information you provided. I will start looking for the closest doll hospital. When I get my computer straightened out I will be posting another picture of a doll that has no markings. I hope you can offer some thoughts on her also. Thank you again.
Look what the restored one sold for and your very welcome :-))
http://www.ebay.com/itm/291166583899?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649