Dolls Preview

  Doll History

  How to buy?

  Policy

  Specials

  Contact Us

    German Dolls   , Made From Different Materials..............    

  17" German bisque  shoulder head doll , also called Parian, made ca. 1870 by Alt , Beck & Gottschalk , marked on shoulder plate : 1304  Germany  Nr. 5 , perfect head without any damage , interesting hairstyle with a side part and curly hair with bangs , fully exposed ears , painted facial features with tiny closed mouth and blue eyes with black and red eye liners , cloth body with lower bisque arms , all original , nicely old dressed with three pc of undergarments , old handmade leather boots , offered for $ 395.00 ( firm )

                                                    ***********************************

  17 1/2" A Peddler doll , well filled her basket , very pretty old dressed and a black silk cape over all.......her hairstyle is called : The covered Wagon, she is made in Germany ca. 1860 , unfortunately a problem on shoulder plate : a crack over the plate in back and on same side a hairline , more pictures are available ! her body is old and has old porcelain limbs , molded and painted black flat shoes, she carry's in her basket three old porcelain frozen Charlie dolls, old undergarments and old red wool dress ,  $  350.00 (firm )  44 cm

                                                         *************************

   14 1/2 " Highland Mary , a blonde haired china doll by Alt , Beck & Gottschalk , marked on Shoulder plate: 1000 x 4 , no damage on this doll shoulder head , no imperfections , no chips, no cracks , a cloth body with porcelain limbs , molded and painted white stockings and black high heel shoes , two fingers are chipped inside hand, old dressed and three piece of undergarments, lovely little doll in good shape  $ 285.00

                                                                   ***********************

   YOUR LAYAWAY IS WELCOME

Doll History

Germany was the most important and the traditional country for making dolls and toys in the years from 1820 to 1930.The region Sonneberg ( Thueringia and Waltershausen ) provided work in this industry to most of  the people living in this area. The German doll makers quickly achieved a world leadership position in this industry, also as the leading doll heads producers. Doll-bodies and doll-heads were made from different materials ,for example : wood , wax , paper Mache, and porcelain. The most  successful doll makers are very well know among collectors and include        : -Simon & Halbig , -Johann Daniel Kestner , - Armand Marseille and the famous producers of the character doll heads : Kaemmer & Reinhardt located in Waltershausen and Gebrueder Heubach in Lichte. These character doll heads look like children , because they were made after children portraits. The Kestner Company produced a very high quality  and his bisque -porcelain had a very light and creamy  bisque color,90% of the production was sold and sent to the United States of America. In the years  of World War l the United States couldn't import merchandise from Europe, and many smaller doll factories in Thueringia had to close their business.

French Doll Maker   France also started very early in 1840, to make  dolls from porcelain. The French created the Fashion doll , know as " POUPEE DE MODE " and these kind of dolls were designed for adults to  be dressed and displayed in the cabinets and on the Piano of their homes as decorations. The most successful makers were Jumeau and Bru, and their merchandise is still extremely sought after by today's doll collector. The French doll makers were very famous and they won several silver and gold medal's for their designs. These famous dolls were dressed like real     Lady's , in silk and other expensive materials combined with handcrafted   in-house workmanship that ensured the highest quality dolls.

American Doll Maker    World War l drastically restricted imports to the United States from Europe. To meet domestic demand the US was obligated to make it's own toys and dolls , or to find a alternate market and provide substitute dolls. The US deemed the Japanese market to be attractive. Japan has produced porcelain dolls since 1921 , however the quality was    not comparable to German dolls , although the doll heads were comparatively inexpensive . A very famous American doll- and toy maker was Albert Schoenhut which was immigrated from Germany and he was the first doll maker which was working with wood , his Humpty - Dumpty Circus with all the animals . made from wood and fully jointed, become very famous. Subsequently , many small doll businesses started in small town's, and dolls were "homemade from cloth , painted over with an oil-mixture. At the time , these cottage-industry doll makers never considered that one day their   dolls become very famous  and sought after by collectors in the late 20th century. Many of these dolls now often appraise for several thousand  dollars at auction.

  Annelies Nohrudi , Doll - Expert