The Magic of Antique Dolls.. pre 1930

Dolls made between 1840 and 1930 have a feeling of magic about them that just is not seen in dolls made in later years.

Perhaps this has to do with a nostalgia that goes with the past, the Victorian days, and the doll makers of that time.

Most of the great dollmakers of that period were from Germany. J.D. Kestner, Armand Marseille, Heinrich Handwerck, Simon and Halbig, Koenig and Wernicke, Kammer and Reinhardt, Hertel,Schwab and Co., Gerbruder Heubach and Ernst Huebach are a few of the most well known.

During that same time Leon Casimir Bru and Fancois Jumeau were making dolls in France. They both worked to stand out from the other doll makers and today that is reflected in their dolls. The Bru dolls are the most expensive dolls today, with Jumeau's following very closely behind. Any doll collector with either in his possession has reached a pinnacle in his/her collecting efforts.

The first dolls made by these dollmakers, both German and French, emulated well dressed ladies of the times, but as the dolls were made for children, the times changed to where the dolls were then made to look like children, and were called character dolls. These were made between 1909 and 1914.

Character dolls had faces that looked like real children in different moods.. laughing, pouting, crying... like snapshots of a real child in a moment of activity... Max standing with a sly grin, then slipping under the neighbor's garden fence to swipe an apple, Jo rolling his eyes at Marie and Jane sitting collecting flowers.

After this period of devoting their dolls to characters, a controversy arose about whether a child should have a doll to play with that was so capricious. Would it be better if they had dolls with no expression so they could use their imaginations in their play with them.. one day being a nurse.. the next a baby or a child in school? So the era of the character dolls ended as quickly as it began and the more traditional baby dolls took their place.

These dolls... made between 1840 and 1930 .. are becoming harder and harder to find and of course the value of them will never fall so they make a good collectible as an investment, but more than that, they make a great collectible as a part ot the past we will never relive.. the magical Victorian age and that immediately following.

The time is reflected in the faces and stance of these dolls. There is almost an ethereal beauty in their fine porcelain faces with bodies made of cloth or riveted leather, and limbs of porcelain. The original clothing of these dolls were hand sewn by master seamstresses of exqusite quality fabrics. The eyes were either handpainted or made of glass and inset in a mechanism that allowed them to open and close. In the case of the glass eyes that opened and closed, the wigs were glued on a pate over a hole on the top of the head which allowed the eyes to be accessed if they needed repair.

The price of these magnificent dolls has a great range.. depending on everyting from the condition of the doll, to the maker and the model and the age. They can be found for anywhere from a few hundred dollars to thousands of dollars... but everyone of them is a prize .. a gem to be cherished.