Antique DOLL Collector April 2014 Vol. 17, No. 3
The Complete Guide to Antique, Vintage and Collectible Dolls
April 2014 Volume 17, Number 3
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DRESSING DOLLS IN THE SONNEBERG AREA OF GERMANY By Mary Krombholz
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2013 UFDC SPECIAL EXHIBIT: EDWARDIAN LADY DOLLS AND THEIR WARDROBES A perfect complement to the
convention theme, “A Capital Affair,” and its emphasis on the early years of the 20th century.
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HOPPIN’ DOWN THE BUNNY TRAIL By Alicia Carver and Barbara Close As warmer weather approaches, doll and holiday collectors naturally think of rabbits!
Our final 2013 UFDC Convention article features a wonderful exhibit presented by Donelle Denery. The Edwardian period, popularized in fashion by the “Gibson Girl” drawings of Charles Dana Gibson, has often been described at the last true age of elegance. In this exhibit you will see dolls and their wardrobes reflecting the sinuous curvy shapes and the later columnar shapes of this era. Photo by Donelle Denery
About The Cover
Mystery Emporium Calendar Classified
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MOMMY’S LITTLE DARLING!
By Elizabeth K. Schmahl, DDS A Mother’s Day tribute to baby dolls, collectibles and traditions.
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GAME ON! MINIATURE FRENCH TOYS AND GAMES FOR DOLLS By Jan Peterson Collecting these tiny treasures is a delightful quest for today’s antique doll collectors.
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APRIL 2014
SEE WHAT YOU WILL BE MISSING IF YOU DON’T ATTEND THE MAY NADDA SHOW!
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CROSSROADS: A DOLL & TEDDY BEAR GATHERING IN ALBUQUERQUE
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GAITHERSBURG ANTIQUE DOLL SHOW
(212) 787-7279 P.O. Box 1410 NY, NY 10023
matrixbymail@gmail.com Quality Antique Dolls by Mail Return Privilege •Layaways Member UFDC & NADDA
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OTS O B ’ USS N
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antasy, grandeur and charm all combine in this exceptionally rare and important ‘allegorical’ automaton attributed to Roullet et Decamps, so celebrated for their exceptional depiction of animal whimsy. In this man meets animal tour de force the satirical and sartorial courtier is splendidly dressed as Puss ‘n Boots in the finest of raw silks from his plumed hat and walking stick to ‘leather’ dress boots. He rotates in hot pursuit of a charming goat skinned mouse he has captured by the tail! But who is chasing who?! Never meant to succeed, Monsier Le Puss whirls lavishly in balletic circles angling to and fro – his jointed neck turning here to there – all to the tune of a cheerful gavotte! Put aside, for the moment, the redundant Jumeau automata and indulge yourself in certainly the finest and most comical and functional of elegant parlour toys – complete with original dome. $9,500
Dressing Dolls in the Sonneberg Area of Germany By Mary Krombholz
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or hundreds of years, a small German town made most of the world’s dolls and toys. The residents of the Thuringian town of Sonneberg made thousands of dolls a year during the 1600s and 1700s. By the 1800s, doll exports totaled from 300,000 to over 500,000 a year. From the 1800s until World War I began in 1914, Sonneberg doll makers made and exported millions of dolls a year. This doll-making town, with a population of 21,717 in 2012, looks much the same today as it did a hundred years ago when almost every resident, young and old, made dolls of wood, papier mache, wax and porcelain. Most of the doll factories still line the streets of Sonneberg today as reminders of the past. This original 1910 postcard, which has been hand colored, shows two child-size wagons filled with dolls parked on the right curb of a street in Sonneberg. Children often used their wagons to deliver dolls and doll parts made and/or assembled by their families in the home factories located on every street. Muddy streets filled with horses and wagons were a typical sight during the early doll-making years. Hand-carved wooden dolls were the earliest Sonneberg dolls. Lathe-turned wooden dolls followed the hand-carved examples. This 6-inch, jointed wooden doll (1), circa 1840s, is dressed in an original “Faschingkostum” which is trimmed with triangularshaped, gold-colored, embossed paper. Fasching is a celebration similar to our Mardi Gras celebrations. The doll has a string loop attached to the top of her head which allowed it to be hung on a candle-lit feather tree. This 6-inch Sonneberg papier-mache doll (2), circa 1840s, has bust-line modeling of the shoulder plate, an upswept hairstyle with a braided bun in back and a cloth body with wooden lower arms and legs. She is wearing original cotton pantalets under her ballerina-style dress. The dress is trimmed with small rectangular pieces of gold-colored, embossed paper and the doll has a matching cloth decoration nailed to the top of her head.
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A 16-inch Sonneberg papier-mache, shoulder-head doll (3) is wearing an original wig, hat, underwear, dress and tasseled leather boots. These inexpensive dolls, circa 1880s-early 1900s, were popular exports. A 1996 book by Angelika Tessmer titled Sonneberg Geschichten, Von Puppen und Kuckuckspfeifen (Sonneberg Stories of Dolls, Slate Pencils and Cuckoo Whistles) provides an oral history told by the daughter of a home-trade worker. She described dressing dolls in Sonneberg with the following words: “I helped my mother since I was twelve years old. I turned the dresses and sewed buttons on them. The quality of materials and the cost of processing and decorating the dresses depended on the amount of money the buyers wanted to spend. There were often matching shoes and stockings. We styled the wigs and decorated them with bows and barrettes that matched the dresses. Then my mother sewed the dolls into boxes of suitable sizes with a few stitches. Our small home business worked mostly with the store owners who were interested in small quantities. They valued the highly individual style of our dolls, all because of my mother’s own designs. Thousands of our dolls traveled by trains or ships to distant countries and played a small role in ensuring that Sonneberg remain famous as the largest doll center in the world.” This 12½-inch, Sonneberg wax-over-papier-mache, shoulder-head doll (4), circa 1870s, is completely original from her braided wig down to her leather boots. An 11-inch Sonneberg wooden socket-head doll (5), with a paper label marked “Bebe Tout en Bois,” is still tied inside an original cardboard box. The doll is wearing an original wig and chemise. For a number of years, the F.M. Schilling, Rudolph Schneider, Loeffler & Dill and possibly other Sonneberg doll factories made this type of French-trade doll, beginning about 1914 when the Rudolph Schneider doll factory registered the trademark “Bebe Tout en Bois” (doll all of wood). An 8½-inch, circa 1890, Gebrueder Kuehnlenz doll (6) is wearing an original felt hat and clothing. The back of the doll head is marked: 36.18.. The doll is wearing a uniform trimmed with white braid, as well as an oval-shaped metal belt buckle and a pewter sword marked with the initials “RW.” The painted boots end just below the knees. The New York doll importing company Butler Brothers continued to advertise soldier dolls like this example in 1907. ANTIQUE DOLL COLLECTOR
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