Posted 11 years ago
historynut
(1 item)
My Mother (God rest her soul) always told us kids that her Uncle brought this China doll home from the 1904 St. Louis World's fair for his sister, who raised my mom. When my mom reached enough maturity to appreciate what she was given, aunt Edna gave her this doll. She kept it faithfully all her life and now it has come down to me as part of my "all my life" collection! I'm afraid dolls are an area I know little about. She's porcelain and in fairly great shape with 2 exceptions. She's 22" long and has a head of strawberry blonde hair which is without a doubt, REAL human hair! It's held in a little hairnet. She is dressed in an undergarment befitting the times, along with a skirt and what is either a dress, or perhaps night clothes. The paint is in surprisingly good shape with very little damage. She is also sporting black stockings and a pair of leather shoes which resemble moccasins. One of them is unfortunately in a state of decomposition. At her left elbow her cover is torn and if not handled very carefully spills out a substance similar to cork or sawdust. Her eyes at one time opened and closed as she was set up or lain down. They are now left in the open position because I don't want to damage them by attempting to restore the mechanism. Her only marking, is on the back of her neck area, where the number 370. is showing. If anyone out there has knowledge of my ONLY china doll, I would be ecstatic!
Thank you for sharing her with us and welcome to CW !
Your doll is a Antique Bisque Armand Marseille made in Germany mold 370
I am not sure her hair is original to her it may have been replaced at some time but I would need to hold doll to tell however it is correct for her . She was produced over a long period and is one of the most common Bisque Dolls to find . She is called a "Dolly Face" She is in beautiful condition and is wearing a real babies christening gown of correct period . They came with Human hair or Mohair .Her eyes are on what is called a rocker inside of head which are held in place by plaster which can dislodge . The top of head is a open hole where doll maker could work on inserting eyes. They can be fixed quite easily at a doll hospital . She should be stored face down so that eyes are not stressed away from inside of up right on a doll stand . Her body is made of Kid leather .
A wonderful heirloom and she seems to have found a good home :-)
About Armand Marseille *******
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.
THANK YOU SO MUCH! I knew someone out there would have the expertise necessary to answer my query. I have so many antique and unique items I intend to place here when I have time. Please accept my deepest gratitude for your kindness in answering my questions and solving my "mystery". I do a little mystery solving myself! Thanks again!
Your very welcome and we are glad to have you onboard and look forward to seeing more and we always can use mystery solvers :-) Glad I could help and your thank you is very appreciated we don't always get one so it is a pleasure to all of us to receive one . If I missed anything you wanted to know just drop a note on here and I will reply :-)