Posted 12 years ago
nmmckay
(8 items)
I believe this is a Kestner "dolly face" head, marked "Made in Germany 196." The eyes do close, it looks like the eyebrows were at one time fur or feather, not sure. There are four teeth showing in an open mouth.
The body seems to be different - Heinrich Handwerck Germany is the marking on the body. Also, not sure if this is typical, but the bottom half of the leg is a different color than the upper half. It's 18 niches in total.
Wondering the value. I know a book said that if the Kestner doll was whole it'd be worth $1250 (I'm sure that's really high, especially for the market, etc.) but this is not a full Kestner doll. Thoughts?
Your doll is a Kestner 196 Bisque doll but I have no idea how you came to that price . Only select few rare dolls sell for that price . She has inset eyebrows and may or may not have had her body replaced . As Kestner usually did their own bodies . The old books that valued dolls are no longer good as prices have fallen a lot and I would like to know what book you used . There is a Blue book for dolls and that is also outdated even though they come out every year . Here is one that just sold . Very nice doll . But not rare .
http://www.ogallerie.com/auctions/2008-03/index_4.shtml
Oh her bottom leg looks like it was replaced with newer like seeley doll part. A big clue is the stringing . Does it look newer ? The cords that hold bod together . If you gently pull down on leg you can see elastic cord it may explain a replaced body then and or parts .
Not sure which book it was! I was just searching online and a dill book popped up with,a samplr reading page and it was listing dolls by height, face type, etc, and said that Kestner was $1250. I figured the price was quite inflated.
My grandparents actually found the head in the attic of a burnt down building in Germany and had the body attached to it by a company who dated the head and matched the body to the time period.
I'll have to check those bottom parts of the legs when I get home! Thanks for all the information!
Well I was correct her body was replaced . It was replaced with a correct era body but many people that restore dolls use put together bodies and also use newer parts . Seeley made very good repro bodies but material feels much smoother than old composition body .
Yes, the bottom half of the legs are very smooth and differ in color from the top half.
Then they are newer replaced parts . I am sure they are Seeley parts that looks like her work.