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 Collecting miniature all-bisque dolls is a delight. Their tiny size is enchanting, and then you look at their faces and realize how unique each is. Different expressions, delicate or rosy complexions, great big eyes or dainty half-moon slivers of eyes. Wonderful painted boots - or bare feet with little toes - so many variations were made.
Theriault's January 10, 2009 auction, coming right up in just three days, offers a staircase of precious little ones. All tiny little French dolls with blue shoes, brown boots, bare feet - and even a little soldier standing guard.
But are all "little ones" really little? It's all relative, of course, but the auction also presents an exceptional collection of early Kestner all-bisque dolls in 8"- 12" size. They are so very rare. Expensive in their making so few children could ever be privileged to own one, and then, how very few survived the tumble from a child's not-so-nimble fingers?
Here are some of the not-so-little "little ones" from the Saturday auction. Click on any photo for a full description of the size and markings, and be sure to note the very rare jointed knees on #33 who is a splendid 10" tall.
And just in case, you love the little ones, but prefer bisque dolls with composition bodies, the January 10 auction offers a delectable assortment of French bebes in tiny sizes that "fit in the palm of your hand". Just look at these wonderful dolls, all 12" or less.
Call toll-free 800-638-0422
You can also leave absentee bids or arrange for telephone bidding by calling 800-638-0422.
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It was 1908 and the world of dolls was in an uproar. Because fresh on the doll scene was the new “art character” doll. It was the doll as art, the doll as a realistic portrait of a child, just like a canvas portrait. And, it had doll makers asking themselves, what canvas portrait ever had glass eyes? Almost overnight the world of dolls closed its eyes on glass eyes and set its sights on “the painted eye”.
Eyes were painted upper glancing, down- glancing, slightly askew, googly, or even winkish. Their color could be shaded or even multi-hued. The sockets could be flat, defined or even so deeply intaglio-cut they seemed intensely real. Whichever, the dolls had a character expression that was unachievable in their glass-eyed cousins.
Many of today’s most sophisticated collectors seek the painted eye characters, both for their characterization and for their rarity. The legendary collection of Madalaine Selfridge, to be auctioned by Theriault’s on Saturday, October 11, 2008 at the Ritz- Carlton Hotel in Half Moon Bay, California, offers wonderful choices in this genre, some so rare as to be virtually unknown, others a wonderful opportunity for the collector just entering this genre.
And what became of the painted eye movement? Sadly, the doll makers had miscalculated the desires of children who, after-all, preferred the “real” glass eyes. One by one, the painted eye models were abandoned or else modified for insertion of glass eyes*. By 1914, a mere six years later, the painted eye movement was all but over, leaving today’s collectors with only rare examples of these dolls as art.
For details about the auction click here, email info@theriaults, or call 800-638- 0422. To view all of the dolls in the auction,click here |
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