1909 Armand Marseille 28-inch Bisque-Head Doll – Germany

A large 700 mm Armand Marseille German bisque-head doll dating to 1909, with sleeping eyes, open mouth with teeth, original brown hair and fully jointed composition-and-wood body, retaining an important documented connection with Western Australia's Goldfields.

This impressive 28-inch (approximately 700 mm) Armand Marseille doll was manufactured in Germany approx 1909, during the height of Germany's internationally important bisque doll industry.

The doll has a finely moulded bisque socket head with delicately feathered brows, painted upper and lower eyelashes, rosy cheeks, an open mouth displaying four upper teeth and sleeping glass eyes. The photographs also show the remains of the original sleep-eye mechanism behind the eye openings. She retains her original brown hair/wig, an especially important surviving feature.

Her large fully jointed wood and composition body is typical of quality German dolls of this period, allowing movement at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees. Comparable Armand Marseille dolls of approximately 68–71 cm are documented with jointed wood-and-composition bodies.

The doll is recorded as marked on the back of the head. The collection record currently reads AIIM. Armand Marseille did use mould number however, large dolls of almost precisely this size are also documented with the mark “390A 11 M”, or "590 A11M' including a 27-inch example and a 28-inch example recorded by Christie's. This doll is still currently being researched.

This doll is still currently being researched.

Features

Measurements: 700× 360 × 150 mm

Condition: Good broken finger

Markings: A11M

Date Note: Date is an estimate based on available research and stylistic features. If you have additionalinformation, please contact us to helpupdate our records.

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Made from the following materials

Country:

Germany

Germany’s toy history includes wooden toys from the Erzgebirge, world-famous Steiff teddy bears, and intricate bisque dolls by companies like Armand Marseille. Modern innovations like Playmobil and Märklin trains ensure Germany’s legacy in the global toy market.

Armand Marseille was one of Germany’s most prolific manufacturers of bisque doll heads during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Armand Marseille, born in Russia, established his doll-making business in Köppelsdorf, Thuringia, after acquiring a toy factory in 1885 and a porcelain factory in 1886. The company became particularly well known for producing large quantities of finely moulded bisque heads, which were often supplied to other German doll manufacturers and fitted to composition or jointed bodies. Popular moulds included the 390, 370, 1894 and 590, with dolls commonly featuring glass sleep eyes, open mouths with teeth, and mohair or human-hair wigs. Armand Marseille dolls were exported extensively, particularly to Britain and the United States, and today remain among the most recognisable and widely collected German antique dolls.

Produced by:

Armand Marseille

Product Code:

D0054

Dimenions:

700(h)

x 360(w)