Selkirk Auctions

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

Overcast

7° C / 44 ° F

Selkirk Auctions

(St. Louis, Missouri, USA)

Please click on this sentence to redirect to Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers website

I allot about 1 hour a day to search for interesting auctioneers and their nice toys.

Last week, I came across a beautiful grouping of old dolls.  They were European Dolls mostly from France. What caught my attention was that they were is such great condition, considering they were fairly old. Moreover, being a photographer, their photography was excellent for the subjects being photographed. The dolls were propped up by a hidden stand,

and were photographed with soft lighting (the photographic unit is called a "softbox".

As part of the hour, I was able to send an e-mail to Selkirk Auctions, and then waited later in the week or more, for a reply.  I received a reply a few day later, and the writer gave me 

permission to write about this beautiful set of dolls.

Description:

FRENCH SFBJ BISQUE HEAD DOLL

"Head marked from top to bottom "23 - France-SJ BJ-14".

"Set eyes, mouth is open below the teeth with pierced ears,

jointed at the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrist, hips, and knees.

30.5" (77.5 cm) height."

* I was curious what the initials SFBJ stood for, so I did a quick search in Wikipedia.

If you click on the sentence below, you will be redirected to a  short but well-written article

about the SFBJ company.

Please click on this sentence to be redirected to Wikipedia

What I also found interesting and informative is the amount of detail for any small "issue" with the condition of the toy, such as a small crack, a missing earring, and so forth.

Not all buyers will look scrupulously  at a photo to look at the details.

Bravo to Selkirk for letting on-line buyers know 

this information with what they are buying!  

Description:

BISQUE HEAD DOLL

"Possibly German. Head marked "13".With sleep eyes, mouth open below the teeth and pierced ears. Jointed neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees.

 29" (73.66 cm) Height"

I'm still in awe at the condition of these old dolls, as well as the shoes the dress 

and the earrings!

Description:

FRENCH BISQUE HEAD DOLL

" Head  marked with a script "13". Sleep eyes, open mouth with teeth, pierced ears,

jointed neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees.

29" (73.66 cm) Height

So that's it for today. I hoped you liked this post today. It was something different from what I usually write about. Seeing these fine-looking and excellent condition dolls, photographed beautifully, was inspiring enough to write this post.

I hoped that you enjoyed it.

Thanks for visiting, and as always,

Have a great part of the day, or night wherever you may be.

My name is (Mr.) Stacey Bindman

and I can always be reached at my email address:

toysearcher@gmail.com

The Magnificent World of Antique Dolls

  Monday, December 4, 2018
Overcast and unseasonably warm
3 C   38 F

The Magnificent World 

of Antique Dolls

Please click here to visit this fine American Auctioneer

PLease click here to visit Morphy Auctions' auction on Liveauctioneers\

   One area of antique toys that I rarely cover is antique dolls. I should cover them in my blogs, but I don't . Of course, being a writer of antique and old toys, one has to be objective (fair and of a neutral opinion), so I do promise to do so in the future . This area is very popular among all kinds of people (men and women), and the value of these dolls had appreciated in value by a lot over the years.

Description:

17 1/2"(445mm) tall An outstanding example of a "portrait face"Schmidt Bebe with fine bisque highlighted with mauve shadowing and rosy cheeks. The original set blue spiral paperweight eyes are enhanced by dark eyeliner and finely painted lashes. On a marked Schmidt body with nice original finish(aged repaint to lower arms only)with straight wrists. The rear of head is marked with the number "2" and underneath is the typical shield with SCH embossed within. Dressed in an elaborate silk Bebe outfit of newer vintage with coordinating hat antique leather boots and a blonde mohair wig. A very striking example of this mold! Bisque head appears to be free of any damage and/or issues such as cheek rubs, eye chips, etc. 

When you read the description of the  above doll, you come across words 

like "bisque",  "silk" and "mohair". These dolls from the past  were exceptionally made, with nothing but the finest materials.

What Is Bisque and Porcelain?

Bisque is unglazed porcelain. Porcelain is created form a paste of clays and water  

which is  molded and then fired at temperatures above 2300F. After firing, the

molded doll head is fired several more times after application of the doll's features. 

Most of the time an application of color is applied to create a more realistic skin tone.

If there is no color added to the bisque and is left white and unglazed, 

the doll is sometimes referred to  as a "parian" doll.*

Please click here to visit this excellent website that discusses these type of dolls

Description:
A striking example of this French bebe! Exceptional modelling with intense blue paperweight eyes, light shadowing above eyes, nicely painted facial details and fine quality bisque overall. Affixed to her original kid body (patching, detached arm & lower legs) with a taped Bru paper label on chest, she retains her original wig and marked Bru shoes. Dress and hat are of vintage fabric in fair condition and of more recent fabrication. Marked in neck socket and shoulder plate "1/5". Overall a very nice example with the kid body requiring repairs. Head and shoulder plate appear to have no hairlines, eye chips, or other damage. Poorly replaced thumb on right hand, extremely small faint red line under nose.
Dimensions: 17" (432 mm)T.

 As of the same time as before, this doll has 6 bidders, 

with the highest bid being  $ 3,750.00 U.S. Dollars!

I've only added 2 photos and descriptions because of the exhaustive 

and thorough descriptions that Morphy Auctions writes.  In future posts, I will add less writing for the description, with of course more fine photos.

If you visit the Liveauctioneers website, or visit Morphy Auctions' website, you

will most certainly appreciate the world of these exceptional antique dolls. I know I have,

and when I go to another garage sale in the spring, I will be keeping an eye out for these dolls!