Antique Dolls

Antique dolls can be such a treasure, they give us some insight into the past, their styles and costumes tell us a little about the culture they came from, and the ones that are passed down through families generation after generation are truly the greatest treasures of all.

So what makes a doll antique, you might ask. To be considered an antique doll among the collecting world, it has to have been made before 1930. Some of the most sought after antique dolls are china, bisque, wood, wax, and papier mâché dolls made before 1930. And some of the most prized antique dolls of all are those early dolls that still have their original hair and clothing – they are truly a rare find.

Here are some antique dolls to keep your eye out for:

Queen Anne Dolls

These extremely rare wooden dolls from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries sell for anywhere between $1500 to over $40,000 (for late 17th century dolls). These were made by craftsmen who carved the dolls, hand-painted them, then dressed them in handmade doll clothes.

Papier-Mache Dolls

These are the next oldest type of collectors’ dolls, being created from the early 1800’s to the early 1900’s, and they are also very rare. This is mainly due to the fact that it was difficult to keep them in good condition. Many of these dolls can be identified by their molded black-painted hair, wooden limbs, and painted eyes (though some have glass eyes). They were produced in the U.S., Germany, and France.

Wax Dolls

On the heels of papier-mache dolls, wax dolls were made from 1840 to the early 1900’s. The earliest ones were made of pressed wax, and then later made by pouring wax into molds and then setting the eyes and hair into the head. These dolls usually had cloth bodies and wax limbs. The charm of these dolls is that wax makes them look very close to human skin. If you find a wax doll that has been stamped on the torso by the maker, it could be very valuable.

China and Bisque Dolls

These dolls are made of glazed (china) and unglazed (bisque, also known as parian dolls) porcelain. China dolls were mainly manufactured in Germany from 1840 to 1880 and are valued for the styles that their hair and clothes represent, and often, the fancier the hairstyle and wardrobe, the more valuable the doll is. In the mid to late 1800’s, bisque dolls became much more popular than china dolls, and were made in Germany and France. Bisque made the dolls look more natural and soft, and many collectors prefer them for this reason. These highly fashionable dolls were mainly manufactured from the 1840’s to the 1940’s.

French Bebes

These dolls, created by Emil-Louis Jumeau, were the first dolls made specifically to represent children. They have the faces of children as opposed to previous dolls that were made to represent adults. Very soon after their creation in 1850, they became wildly popular and soon took over the “adult” fashion dolls. Not that these were not fashionable – au contraire – they had highly intricate fancy costumes and very much represented the high fashions of their time. They are also prized for their delicate, lovely faces.

“Dolly-Faced” Dolls

These German bisque dolls are the most common dolls among collectors today, They were manufactured from 1890 to around 1930 and some of the most sought after ones are character “dolly-faced” dolls. With these, the lighter ones and the ones with the most detail are the most valuable.

But in reality, all of these dolls are valuable because they hold a piece of the past, giving us some insight into history. And most important of all, they were deeply loved and cherished by their child owners, and this is what makes antique dolls so unique and valuable.