Antique DOLL Collector February 2015 Vol. 18, No. 1
The Complete Guide to Antique, Vintage and Collectible Dolls
February 2015 Volume 18, Number 1
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AN ALL AMERICAN GIRL… FROM LOUIS AMBERG
by Ginger Strain A look at the company’s Victory Doll, born during World War I.
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RAYNAL LENCI-TYPE DOLLS
RÖRSTRAND OF SWEDEN… A CLOSER LOOK
by Dominique Pennegues The author shares important tips on how to identify dolls made by Raynal.
by Kate Reed Nine distinct molds have been attributed thus far to this little known porcelain company.
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BÉBÉS IN DISTRESS
by Alf Ertsland Making your dolls as original as possible is a fun and important endeavor.
There has long been confusion when it comes to identifying dolls made by Raynal, Lenci and Nicette. In her article Dominique Pennegues provides us with important tips on how to identify Lenci-type dolls made by Raynal. The cover, a dapper Raynal officer, is a wonderful example of the company’s production. Cover courtesy Theriaults.
About The Cover
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Auction Gallery Emporium News Calendar Classified
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THE GERMANISCHES NATIONAL MUSEUM IN NÜRNBERG by Donna Kaonis
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LUCE DOLLHOUSE FURNITURE
by Judith Armitstead An in-depth look at the doll furniture produced in the early part of the 20th century by William B. Luce and his son. 6
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ÉCOLE DES POUPÉES DECEMBER 2-4, 2014 by Donna Kaonis
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GAITHERSBURG DOLL SHOW AND SALE DECEMBER 6 AND 7
SAVING THE ARIZONA DOLL AND TOY MUSEUM by Jennifer Craft-Hurst The museum lives on thanks to the generosity of Sandy Kralovitz.
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(212) 787-7279 P.O. Box 1410 NY, NY 10023
1) 17” Rare Bru Era Poupée - immaculate ‘pressed bisque’ complexion, old firing line, mint wig, and pate, firm body, discolored, no leaks, partially costumed and worth finishing up! $1895. 2) 14” Wood Body Fashion w/ Bisque Arms exquisite chiseled features, delicate color, mesmerizing blue PW eyes, clean body w/ lovely flexible bisque arms, a dressmakers delight! $4800. 3) 13” Dreamy ‘SH 949’ Type - closed mouth w/ radiant, spiraled, blue PW eyes, lovely 3/4 shapely arms and very fine old clothes… a sweet parfait! $495. 4) 9” Gbr.Kuhnlenz ‘34’ - lovely color, sleep eyes, orig. wig & jtd.body, just a sweetheart! $650. 8” ‘Kestner’ - soulful big eyes, orig. wig & pate, jtd.body and period clothes! $750. See #17. 5) All Original Minis… 6.5” Rare English Nanny w/ Tin Buggy and silk hood, bedding & bisque baby - $650. 6.5” Ethnic Black Mache Domestic - $195. 4” Little Lady - glass eyes, wonderful tiny print layers. $215. 4” A/O Boy & Girl Pair w/ hats $350. 6) Choice Mother / Daughter Hatted Parians 4.5” & 7” tall w/ glazed plumes, rare hairdos w/hats,, exquisite quality, intricate detail, w/hats vintage costumes and orig. bodies w/ parian flat sole shoes & limbs! A luxurious pair!! $1595.
7) The Lady’s Man - flirtatious charm in the eyes of this naughty turn of the century rogue - All Original in his best suit & dapper hat! This French Trade Automaton Nodder tilts his head from side to side to flirt his roguish eyes! 20” tall overall… just $1795. 8) This 15” Belton Bru Bebe - has ‘the look’ she should sensuous modeling , blue PW eyes, early Bru-style Closed Mouth w/ parted lips, mohair wig and stiff wrist body, plus the period clothes! so perfect! $2750. 9) 19” Earliest Closed Mouth Kestner What antiquity! ivory bisque w/ razor fine A.T. sculpting, turned head, ice blue eyes, antique wig, plus the original heirloom clothes and shoes! $1095. 10) 31” Outstanding Pre-1900 Kestner How rare for so early a doll to be this size! Early square cut teeth, flat brows, valuable rare French Wig, chunky loose ball body and luxurious old clothes - all excellent! $1795. See #36. 11) 9” Kestner All Bisque - a stunner w/ closed mouth, sleep eyes, chunky body, an impressive size yet so gentle seeming in all her pretty vintage layers! $695.
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RAYNAL LENCI-TYPE DOLLS by Dominique Pennegues
aynal cloth dolls are known internationally for their However, these Raynal caricature dolls, sold in France artistic qualities, however, it’s easy to see that their and abroad, as evidenced by the advertising shown in 1927 production was inspired from its beginning by Elena Playthings, appear to have been used mainly in France as König Scavini’s own Lenci dolls. door prizes and giveways to clients at popular cabarets. The first advertisement for Raynal dolls, an ethnic The common thread that unites these caricature dolls is the caricature doll representing a chubby figure from quality of the clothing, often featuring fine organza and silk. Normandy with large hands and widely spread fingers, Like Margarete Steiff, Edouard Raynal and Marthe appeared in the July 1927 Playthings magazine alongside Gold, Raynal chose for their first comic ethnic doll a classic dolls. There is additional evidence that Raynal dolls cartoon character in the person of a young Breton called were influenced by Bécassine by its creator Margarete Steiff and Jacqueline River in Elena König Scavini. 1905 for the magazine We know that La Semaine de Suzette. the earliest dolls The well known manufactured by Parisian-Polish artist’s Margarete Steiff in 1905 cloth doll maker were dolls representing Stefania Lazarska was ethnic comic characters already producing that were often seen this particular cloth in the comics. Mama doll since WWI. Katzenjammer, Missus One may say that and Der Captain are the particularity of probably the most Raynal’s production famous caricature dolls during all its life was produced by Margarete always been to copy Steiff after the famous other’s successful comic strip “The creations with no “état Katzenjammer Kids” d’âme” at all. published by Rudolph The 1925 Paris Art Dirks in 1897. Deco Exhibit had 1927 ad in Playthings for “French felt dolls” imported by Louis Eisen. Doll Elena König, most been a great success on the left and the right are Raynal dolls, the doll in the center is a Gerb’s. A likely inspired by the mistake has been done in identifying the Raynal caricature who is dressed as a for Lenci artistic all felt creations of her Normandy Peasant, not as Gascon as written. Raynal’s low prices gave them a felt dolls so it is to financial advantage. talented predecessor, be expected that by began in 1919 to 1927, Raynal was introduce cartoonish dolls, sometimes close advertising a Lenci-type doll in Playthings, to grotesque, such as the rare black doll, and the following year in the French with the pumpkin-shaped face and round magazine Le Jouet Français, their advertising eyes, the Dutch farmer and the Oriental showed a few more felt dolls totally belly dancer. inspired by Lenci dolls. Their lower prices Raynal’s first production of classic dolls allowed them to profitably compete with were of very poor quality, with no artistic Lenci during the 20’s. value at all, being made with a sateen From that point on until the end of the molded mask and lower limbs attached 30’s, Raynal never stopped producing all to the body with metal buttons. But a felt dolls inspired by Lenci along with their short time later, another production made more classical cloth dolls. This production of molded and stuffed felt dolls with a even though very pleasant to see, had a very “caricature look”, allowed Raynal dolls to negative impact on Lenci’s dolls business get better known on the U.S. market, where, and an even more devastating one on at the time, only the luxurious Nicette dolls First Raynal label, only found on Nicette’s. However, our objective here is were exported with success as “Lenci-type” the rare ethnic comic characters not to put the blame on Raynal, but to help from 1925 and 1926. French dolls. collectors to know how to identify their dolls. 18
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Here are a few samples of Raynal’s ethnic comic characters. First is a Becassine doll, probably the first cartoon-type doll produced under Raynal label. Stefania Lazarska first produced Becassine cloth dolls during WWI and after. Her Bécassine dolls met with a lot of success and were sold by the best Parisian stores, which explains Raynal’s choice of this ethnic comic character. The features of Stefania Lazarska’s Bécassine dolls are relatively faithful to the character drawn by Emile Joseph Pinchon for La Semaine de Suzette depicting a young Breton usually depicted wearing a green dress with white cotton coiffe and wooden clogs. The Raynal couple respected in their interpretation of the young Bécassine the psychological traits of the young Breton Jacqueline Rivière gave her in the text, but differed somewhat from the representation in Emile Pinchon’s drawings. Thus, the naivety and innocence of Becassine is expressed in Raynal’s caricature by surprised large blue eyes, while Emile Pinchon’s Becassine eyes are just black dots. For copyright reasons, we can safely assume that the reversed colors of the Raynal Becassine costume were designed to avoid prosecution by the authors of the French comic strip. The second caricature doll is dressed as a Gascon peasant. She has the later Raynal label marked “Made in France” which indicates that Raynal had started exporting his creations at that time, as seen in the 1927 issue of Playthings. The third doll is a Normandy peasant and the fourth is a Spanish Matador inspired by opera Carmen by French composer Georges Bizet. Note the large felt hands with spread fingers similar to those of comic ethnic dolls created by Margarete Steiff and later Elena Scavini. Here, the fingers have metallic wire inside the stuffed felt to make them flexible. 60 cm. Private collection. France. Raynal label sewn on Gascon doll. This one says “Made in France” unlike that attached to the Becassine doll which did not mention the country of origin. Third Raynal label used in 1927, and probably before. ANTIQUE DOLL COLLECTOR
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Rörstrand of Sweden… a Closer Look
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by Kate Reed
hina dolls made by the Rörstrand Porcelain The nine different molds of Rörstrand doll heads I’ve Company of Sweden remain elusive for doll identified are listed below. collectors. Antique dealers rarely see these heads Style A (below) has curly bangs with several curls in the and often don’t recognize them when they are found. As I center of the forehead, slight curls in front of the ears and continue to research the old factory records, more helpful on the nape of neck, and hair drawn back into a twisted information has been discovered. bun just above the ears. The larger sizes of this mold have A recent trip to Sweden allowed me to visit many a twisted bun which sits slightly lower at the back of the archives and libraries to delve through company catalogs head, more directly behind the ears, blonde or black hair. and photographs. Since Rörstrand moved their production Style B has hair combed up in a ponytail without bangs. locations several times over the years, the information for No known example found. which I searched is scattered. With a history from 1726, Style C has curly bangs with the most prominent curl Rörstrand is known as one of the oldest porcelain factories coming down the forehead closer to the left eye, the hair in Europe. Household goods, tile stoves and decorative Style A objects comprised the bulk of their sales. The production of doll heads seems to have started in the mid 1800s. Catalogs offer very limited illustrations but do list the heads in many sizes. Later, arms and legs were also produced in a variety of styles and sizes. I am most pleased to be able to identify nine different head molds at this time. Further digging revealed factory notes describing the detailed hair treatments of some of these dolls. The heads were generally incised with a capital letter to designate the mold style and then a number denoting the size beside it on the front of the shoulder plate. While most of the heads have two sew holes in front and back, some of the smaller dolls have only one hole in front and in back. The incised marks are between the front holes or on the left side of the front shoulder plate. 28
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above the ears is pulled back into a short ponytail drawn up high in back and hanging loose down the head, black hair. Style D has wavy hair without bangs with a prominent single curl above each eye, no bun, and the hair is painted low on the back of the neck, black hair. Style E has hair hanging loose. No known example found. Style H has wavy hair without bangs, a prominent center curl on the forehead, hair painted in front of the ears and low on the neck, and a high bun drawn above the top of the ears, black hair. The Rรถrstrand Museum in Sweden had an example of this style head, along with china arms and legs in their collection which I photographed in 2005 (below). I learned in 2013 that the head was stolen.
Style C
Nancy M. Civitts collection
Style D
Style H photographed at the Rรถrstrand Museum in Sweden
Style H
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