Posted 12 years ago
tedway
(2 items)
We recently got this doll after my mother-in-law passed away. We believe it was given to a great Aunt around 1915 to 1920. She never played with it and it was never taken out of the box. It is still tied in the box. We do not have the top half of the box. We know nothing about dolls any history or info would be great. Thanks
tedway08@gmail.com
Where's Manikin?
This is a real treasure for you!
The clothes are just beautiful and in such condition!
I'm sure Manikin and the others on CW will give you more about her identity.
She is in magnificent condition ! wow . Not often found in such beautiful and original clothes and box . She is a German Bisque Doll dating 1890-1920 . I need you to look at back of her neck it will have numbers or a symbol which will tell me who made her . She is a very fine equability doll and her clothes are also high quality . All bisque dolls did not come with such wonderful clothes . She is what we call a Dolly Face Doll . She is not in herself rare but the condition ect make her a very desirable doll and hard to find in her shape . I am thinking she is a Kestner or Simon Halbig or K*R doll . Let me know how tall she is and what she is marked ok .
Correction that should read She is very fine quality doll the E was a typo :-)
She could also be marked Armand Marseille or just A.M. and a number . Just giving you some idea's of name your looking for :-)
Also is her body kid leather or hard and have joints so her knee's bend ect which is called a composition body. From the little I can see of her hand I am suspecting she is kid leather ?
Thanks for the quick response. The doll is 16" long and as far as the markings. I can't see them because she is still tied in the box. I don't know if I should cut the string, just guessing not. Her body is hard and does have joints.
ted it is ok to take her out of box be careful not to tear clothes then re tie her in . Any collector and I worked in a museum of antique dolls we have to remove them to see what is wrote on neck.It won't hurt her .
Her value and history is all in the maker of her :-) so we need to see who made her .
Ok 390n
DRQM2 AG
AO 2 M
That is what they looked like to me. There was two lines of writing looked like German.
Thanks ! She is a Armand Marseille 390 doll . These are one of most common dolls found on market BUT yours is special because of condition .
Armand Marseille of Sonneberg and Koppelsdorf, Thuringia, Germany was one of the worlds largest and best known bisque doll head manufacturers. The founder was born in 1856 in St. Petersburg, Russia the son of an architect and immigrated to Germany with his family after 1860. In 1884 he bought the toy factory of Mathias Lambert in Sonneberg and in 1885 acquired the porcelain factory of Liebermann & Wegescher in Koppelsdorf
and his empire in the doll world began.
From 1900-1930 it's reported Marseille produced 1,000 bisque doll heads a day, they made bisque head baby, children, lady and character dolls, on cloth, kid or composition bodies, most with glass eyes, some with painted eyes, with the most commonly found doll molds of 370 (shoulder head on a cloth or kid body) and 390 (socket head on a composition body). Marseille interestingly did not produce the body of their dolls, but purchased those from other doll manufactures.
In 1919 Ernst Heubach and Marseilles merged and formed the United Porcelain Factory of Koppelsdorf (Vereinigte Koppelsdorf Porzellanfabrik vorm Armand Marseille and Ernst Heubach). By 1932 the two companies went their separate ways.
She is wonderful and one thing I should mention when storing a bisque doll they should be placed face down on soft cloth. When laying on back eyes can fall back or let lose as they are only held in place by a little plaster which can pull away from inside of her head . I hope all this helps you and if you want you can also research her by name now . "Armand Marseille 390 "
Thanks for checking neck for me :-)
Here is one you can look at like her so you can see markings . Your doll is more valuable due to condition and her price it is bit high on todays market
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Armand-Marseille-German-Large-23-390-Bisque-Head-Blue-Sleeper-Eyes-/281101601688?pt=US_Dolls_Bears_Toys&hash=item4172f60b98
Thank you so much you have been so kind. You are very knowledgeable. We received another doll also and were told it is valuable. I have posted it also http://www.collectorsweekly.com/stories/89391-small-doll
You are my official doll expert for life:)
Your welcome ted :-) and I did look at your other doll also .