Antique dolls, Armand Marseille, bisque, Bru, classic bebe, French, German, Jumeau, old dolls
BISQUE, also biscuit, is a fired piece of unglazed ceramic.
Depending
on the technique and materials used, it is either the final article,
such as dolls' heads, or an intermediary
stage before the article has a
coating of glaze applied and is then fired again.
The firing of the unfired article that
results in the bisque article
causes permanent chemical and physical changes to occur.
These result in
a much harder and more resilient article.
ALL-BISQUE: Doll, usually
quite small (under 8") that is made entirely of bisque parts.
Most
all-bisque dolls are from the late 1800s and early 1900s, to about 1930. Kestner and Simon and Halbig made
many of these dolls; many other makers
of generally lesser quality also did.
Most of these dolls were made in
Germany, but some very early exquisite dolls were made in France, and
many
crudely made later dolls were made in Japan.
BALL JOINTED: Common method of jointing composition bodies; uses little
wood "balls" at joints for movement.
BÉBÉ: Term commonly used to describe French dolls representing small
children.
BISQUE: Unglazed porcelain; usually molded into shape then baked in high
temperatures in a "kiln" to form doll
heads and doll body parts. Most
German and French dolls from the late 1800s and very early 1900s had
heads
made of bisque.
COMPOSITION: A mixture of wood pulp, sawdust, glue and similar items
which is used to make bodies for antique
dolls and also for entire dolls
(head and body) during this century until the advent of hard plastic
dolls.
CLOSED MOUTH: Doll sculpted so that the mouth is closed with no teeth
showing. Prized by collectors of bisque
antique dolls, who prefer the
closed mouth dolls to the open mouth dolls.
INTAGLIO EYES: Eyes that are molded into the head that are meant to
be painted.
MARK OR MARKINGS: Letters and numbers and symbols placed by the
manufacturer of a doll on the doll's head or
body which are invaluable
for identifying dolls today; it is often impossible to identify an
antique or vintage doll
without a mark. However, please note that not
all marks have been identified today.
OPEN MOUTH: Mouth molded open to, generally, reveal teeth inside. Can
also reveal tongues on bisque baby dolls.
SLEEP EYES: Dolls eyes that are open when the doll is upright, but close
when the doll is put prone.
VOICE BOX: Mechanism in a dolls body that allows the doll to make some
sound such as "mama."
 few of my old doll's.
They are antique dolls, some of them are German dolls with a Bisque or China
head.
I don't have any special old doll's, I bought them on doll auctions and
old doll events. Two from other doll collectors.
How to find an antique doll?
If you're up to taking a trip and getting together with a bunch of
weirdoes (a.k.a. "avid doll collectors"), then visit a
doll show.
Organizations like the United Federation of Doll Clubs and doll
businesses like Seeley's host these
conventions on weekends and during
the summer. Doll experts recommend that you, as a beginning doll
collector,
attend these shows so that you can learn from experts and get
a chance to inspect dolls before you purchase them.
Garage sales, flea markets, antique stores, auction houses, ebay, second hand stores, recycling shops, ...
You never know what you can find at these places. Don't blame me if you
walk away with not only some interesting
dolls, but also a bunch of
mismatched old shoes, a seashell collection, and a broken phonograph.
It's happened more than once.
For more doll-buying resources, it's a good idea to check out special
antique doll collecting magazines, like the very
appropriately named
Antique Doll Collector Magazine. Besides getting updated on the world of
doll collecting,
there are plenty of ads for doll stores, auctions,
shows, and other places to locate them. My old dolls
Old English doll, made
of a kind of plastic, hair damaged, mark in neck 805 4 1/2
Composition doll,
head and body, mark in neck nr: 42
Old bisque head, composition
body, mark in neck CW 120 5/0
 click to enlarge
Schildpat doll, head
and body of same material, a kind of plastic,
mark in neck 339 16/18
Plastic doll, very old
material, with open mouth and tongue, sleep eyes and body has "mama"
voice,
mark on back Kader
B 35 16 1/2 B.H
 click to enlarge
Old bisque head, with
mohair wig, short hair, I do not like short hair, but it is original,
so I won't change it.
mark neck:
Kammer & Reinhart, S&H
 all-jointed doll
Ball-jointed dolls (BJDs) or Asian Ball-jointed Dolls (ABJDs) are
realistically proportioned dolls, usually manufactured
in east Asian
countries (primarily South Korea and Japan). These dolls are fully
articulated with ball joints at the
appropriate locations on their
bodies.
These dolls are fully poseable and customizable, with removable
wigs, eyes, hands, feet and heads.
Many different variations are
available. clothes, shoes, jewelry, and other accessories are also
available.
Much like collectable porcelain dolls, BJDs are often
collected by adults and are often anatomically correct.
Ball-jointed dolls follow a traditional Asian view in their
aesthetics. The designs are diverse and range from
anime-inspired to
the hyper-realistic. They are often considered to be collectors
items.
George W. Sanders - Jointed Doll Co
George Sanders patented and produced composition over wood socket
swivel headed dolls.
They were made from hard maple with cast lead
feet which were painted to be blue boots.
They also had black bands
painted around their waists.
 doll body
 composition body
ladies body
y
the 17th century, play dolls were commonly used by both boys and
girls.
Sonneberg, Germany, was noted from the 17th cent. as a center
for wooden dolls, and by the 19th cent.
The town led also in the
making of dolls' china heads.
The doll industry in Paris developed
dolls that could speak and close their eyes and specialized in
high-fashion dolls.
The use of papier-mâché early in the 19th cent.
stimulated large-scale manufacture. Wood, china, and wax were
also
used at this time; hard rubber was introduced c.1850, and bisque
c.1862.
The colonial cornhusk man and the rag doll began as domestic
products, but have developed into commercial
popular products.
My old Armand Marseille Dolls
 click to enlarge
Old bisque head, composition
body, mark in neck:
AM 390 2 OX
Old bisque head, composition
body, mark in neck:
AM 390 AO
Old bisque head, composition
body, mark in neck: AM 390 A2
with sleep eyes, open
mouth, teeth, and tongue
Old bisque head, toddler
body, mark in neck:
Armand Marseille
Germany
99 G
with sleep eyes, open
mouth, teeth, and tongue
 click to enlarge
This is a very old (
around 1923 ) bisque flange-neck head, eyes are painted, white fabric
body.
mark in neck :
318/2/ex. AM
round
1820, glazed porcelain doll heads and unglazed bisque (ceramic)
heads became much more popular.
A bisque doll made by the French Jumeau family in the 1860s had a swivel neck; the body was made of
kid-covered
wood or wire or of kid leather, which was stuffed with
sawdust.
This type of doll manufacture remained common until it was
replaced with molded plastics in the 20th century.
Porcelain is used
generically to refer to both china and bisque dolls.
Germany,
France, and Denmark started creating china heads for dolls in the
1840s.
Heads made of bisque in the 1860s replaced China heads.
Bisque, which is fired twice with color added to it after the first
firing, looked more like skin than china did.
The French “bebe” was made popular in the 1850s, and it has become a
highly sought after doll today.
The bebe, first made in the 1850s,
was unique from its predecessors because it depicted the form of a
younger girl.
Until this time most dolls were representations of
adults.
Although the French dolls became unrivaled in their artistry, German
bisque dolls became quite as popular because
they were not as
expensive as the French dolls.
Kammer & Reinhardt revolutionized
doll making in the 1900’s by introducing a bisque character doll,
starting a trend
of creating realistic dolls.
 ost auction houses
in your neighborhood know what your old doll is worth.
The first thing you'll want to look for in a doll is that it's in
good condition - no cracks in the hairline or any other
noticeable
imperfections. While it's very difficult to find an antique doll in
mint condition (meaning, still in their
original boxes), you don't
want to buy one with a missing arm either - not only is that creepy,
but it's too difficult
to work with.
If you can't afford to (or
don't care to) buy a doll in good condition, buy one that still has
hope of being repaired,
and then have fun repairing it. Many
collectors enjoy the challenge of finding their barefoot doll a cute
pair of shoes
or making a new wig for their prematurely balding
doll.
Most valuable antique dolls have some sort of ID on them, so do a
strip search and look for the doll manufacturer's
mark. Many marks
are in the form of abbreviations, so you should get yourself a doll
collector's guide to determine
what the initials stand for.
If your
doll doesn't have any marks, or if the marks on your doll elicit a
head-scratching motion, you can get it
appraised at a doll shop or
doll show. (Appraising your doll should cost no more than $20.)
Keep
in mind, though, that not all dolls can be identified.
mark in neck
fabric body
French body
toddler body
head types
 choenhut dolls were made by the very famous, quality toy
manufacturer; Albert Schoenhut Company in
Philadelphia, PA USA.
These dolls were made by steam pressing wood heads under high
pressure into metal molds.
They were either sold with carved hair or
wigged.
Details were sometimes recarved to clean the heads up after
they were removed from the press mold.
They had a heavy coating of
flesh colored oil based enamel. The details of the early dolls were
hand painted.
Schoenhut dolls are famous for their fabulous SPRING jointed
machine carved bodies.
Two springs in each joint provided precise
tension so these dolls could maintain even gravity defying poses yet
move smoothly.
Two patents were awarded to the Schoenhut Company for
their unique doll bodies.
One for the walking doll and the other for
their spring hinge jointed bodies.
As cost cutting measures, the last jointed dolls were made with
decals and/or stenciled features, and then the
company started
stringing these dolls with elastic. A cheaper to produce line of
babies with cloth bodies was
also introduced.
torage of Dolls:
Much has been written about proper storage of
dolls. To properly store dolls, keep them away from acid items--use
acid free tissues. Keep the dolls away from cardboard boxes which
can cause damage because of the acids in them
(even original boxes!)
If you wrap dolls or doll clothes for storage, use acid-free tissue
paper (light impressions).
It is often best to store a doll and a
costume separately (this is advice that I even have problems
following).
In any event, never store a doll with jewelry (green
ear, wrist marks).
Finally, don't store dolls in plastic that cannot
breath--some plastics give off gases that can damage dolls and
fabric
(Tupperware containers) and many plastic containers and bags
can trap moisture encouraging the growth of molds.
Doll Stands: STANDS can do much damage!
Coated metal stands are
better than bare metal stands, but can still cause damage.  |
