About Anne Hoffmann Expertise As a modest collector of appropriately vintage age, I'm good at identifying American vintage dolls (largely late 1940's-1970's) and have the interest and resources to research particularly challenging identifications. I would hesitate to make specific value estimates, however, as markets fluctuate and I am not a professional appraiser. I can recommend at-home repair methods and resources for particular repair instructions and supplies. I can differentiate repairs that will enhance or devalue the historical significance of your doll.
Experience For one, I am 58 and a life-long doll lover. I played with many of these dolls! I am an adult collector, hampered only by my inability to afford the high-end and rare collectibles. I do some doll identification for sellers on eBay and am in demand for local yard sale and church pricing of doll "finds". I like folks to be able to realize a good return for their offerings by correctly identifying their dolls for collectors. I am highly literate and like people as well as dolls! I was briefy a customer service associate for JC Penney (one of those "filler" jobs) and enjoyed resolving issues to customer satisfaction. I am retired and spend a lot of time studying dolls. On the down side, while having an excellent command of the English language, I am a poor typist.
Education/Credentials None for doll collecting. I was a draftsman and machine programmer for an architectural metal firm.
Question QUESTION: I have what I think is either a paper mache or plaster doll. There are no markings other then a 4 and an zero on the back of her neck. She has molded hair with side buns. She has a socket head and strung body. She is 16 and 3/4 inches tall. The doll came from the estate of German immigrants where most everything was pre-war German, if that helps. I am not sure if the eyes are decals or if gloss was put on the lips and eyes to make them sparkle.
Can you give me an idea of what to even call her? An age and approx value would also be appreciated.
ANSWER: Your doll looks similar to photos of the few German regional dolls of the 1920's-30's that I could find. You do not include a full-length photo, so I have only the face to go on. It has the period eye paint or eye decals and single-stroke eyebrows of a 1920's -30's doll. The moulded hair with side buns and the size are in line with two other unmarked but documented German dolls I have seen. Your doll seems to have been redressed. She may be made of composition, papier maché, biscaloid or biskoline.
Because I cannot come up with an exact match and these dolls have considerable value (around three hundred dollars or more) in excellent condition, I recommend you have it appraised by an appraiser with expertise in vintage dolls.
Good sources for reputable doll appraiser listings are www.debrasdolls.com, www.theriaults.com and www.nadda.org.
I would love to hear from you on the results if you decide to have her appraised! Please do share her identity with other collectors.
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QUESTION: thank you so much!
While I am not a serious doll collector, I will pick up a doll if the face piques my interest and it is old. Because I am not a collector, I sometimes do not know what to ask or how to describe the doll. The word "composition" confuses me somewhat, even after it has been explained.
I unwittingly left out the part that you can see the staples through the "top layer" on the torso, both front and back, and also going down the outside of both legs, which is why I assumed the dress is not original, even though it is old, and disintegrating as we speak.
I could not figure out how to put in more than one photo, which is why I only showed the head. In this particular case, I think you might need more than one, so I am also showing a full body photo and perhaps this will give you a little more to go on.
I will most certainly consider having her appraised, and will also share my findings.
Again, thank you so much for your time.
Answer I'm sorry to have taken so long in responding, but have been waiting for additional source material to arrive, which it hasn't yet. Please believe I am almost as curious about this doll as you are and will add another follow-up to this question when I have any more complete information. You will receive an email alert from allexperts.com for any follow-up.
The stapled body and legs put a her value in different light, I am afraid, as this would be a lower-end manufacture. On the other hand, she is old.
I would think, from her construction and face paint, that she is probably made of celluloid, which was formed in sections around a mold and glued together. The use of staples would not be a good-quality technique, but rather a quick production method.
I haven't seen a reference yet to a stapled doll, but I did have such a doll as a small child.
I was born in 1949 and although celluloid, as such, was no longer legal for making toys during my early childhood, due to its high combustibility, there were some old stock items still obtainable on the retail market. Also, any thin polystyrene was still referred to as "celluloid".
My doll was a cheap international costume doll with clothes stapled on. Her body was interesting, as it was a thin plastic that was, as is yours, stapled together with metal staples down the middle of the body, back and front, rather than glued at side seams. The head and limbs were glued and the doll was strung. Your doll is larger than was mine and of better quality, as the staples have been covered over with some sort of paint or thin layer of other coating.
It looks like a light fabric was glued over the body to cover the staples and reinforce it.
Celluloid was an accidental chemical discovery in 1855 and used as a commercial substitute for ivory and tortoiseshell in a variety of small items, such as ladies hair combs and hand mirror frames. It was not used to produce dolls until 1869. The material is very light-weight. The first dolls had a very light porcelain-like complexion; later mixtures used dyes to achieve a more realistic coloration.
Germany led in the production of celluloid dolls, but Japan, Italy, France and the United States were early large manufacturers. The most well-known German maker is Schildkroet, their dolls, after 1899, identifiable by a tortoise marking of some sort.
The earliest celluloid mixture was extremely volatile and disintegrated easily. The formula was improved upon and made more stable by 1910, but it retained its high flammability. Biskaline was a celluloid-based doll-making material. (Biscaloid was an imitation bisque, using a composition mixture. Composition was a pulp product, much heavier and more durable than celluloid.)
Celluloid was made illegal for toy production in the United States in the 1940's, but was still used for making inexpensive dolls in Europe until modern plastics became a more feasible material in the mid-1950's. A celluloid mixture called tortulon was often used during that transitional period.
Given the size, excellent condition, construction and face paint of your doll, I would still recommend you have it appraised. I do hope you still have the clothes, as they are probably contemporary to the doll, if not original. (The doll is worth more dressed in age-appropriate clothing.) If it is celluloid, it is in remarkable condition for such a fragile material. Do keep it out of the heat!
There is a fee for appraisals, although not usually very much. Interest in celluloid dolls is on the rise, but auction prices show a wide range of values, from $10.00 to many hundreds, depending on the make, condition, size and appeal.
A good link for learning more about celluloid dolls is http://www.celluloidforever.com/CelluloidDolls.html.
I hope this helps. Again, please do share with other collectors any information you may gain about this doll from appraisal and I will continue to try and find a reference match for her.
Quick postscript: European doll manufacturers of celluloid dolls often marked them on the back of the neck with the size in centimeters. If your doll has "4 0" on her neck, it should be 40 cms in height. This converts to a hair under 15.75 inches. Are you sure she is a full inch over that? Of course, the head may have been used on a slightly longer body or legs than it was originally intended for by the maker.
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