c.1900–1910 Armand Marseille Mould 390 Bisque-Head Doll – Germany

A fine c.1900–1910 German Armand Marseille mould 390 doll with bisque socket head, blue glass eyes, open mouth with teeth, auburn wig and fully jointed composition body, standing approximately 420 mm high.

This attractive 17½-inch Armand Marseille doll was manufactured in Germany during the early twentieth century and is an example of the firm's extremely successful mould 390 doll.

The back of the bisque socket head bears the impressed Armand Marseille factory marking together with Germany, 390, A 1½ M.

Mould 390 became one of Armand Marseille's most widely produced doll heads and is frequently encountered on German jointed composition bodies. Surviving examples with comparable markings, blue sleeping eyes, open mouths and jointed bodies are consistently identified as Armand Marseille 390 dolls.

The doll has a finely modelled bisque socket head with delicately painted feathered eyebrows and eyelashes, softly blushed cheeks and an open mouth painted in a warm coral-red tone. Inside the mouth is a row of small upper teeth.

She has striking blue glass sleepy eyes with detailed irises.

Her mohair auburn-brown wig is arranged in curls and ringlets around the face. The wig has a hessian base and appears original.

The head is mounted on a fully jointed composition body, articulated at the shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees. This type of ball-jointed body was commonly paired with Armand Marseille's 390 socket head.

There is expected age-related surface wear and cracking around some joints, together with deterioration and losses to the composition around the upper leg/hip area. The hands retain their individual fingers but show surface wear and small losses.

Despite wear to the composition body, the bisque head appears particularly well preserved, with strong facial colouring and no obvious hairline crack or major chips.

The doll is dressed in a long cream-white satin-style gown trimmed with lace, with a matching lace bonnet. The clothing is sympathetic to the period and presentation of the doll, but is not original.

Features

Measurements: 420h x 160w x 120d mm

Condition: Good - sign of age typical on composition dolls. Not in it's origonal clothes

Markings: Armand Germany/ 390 / A 1½ M

Date Note: Date is an estimate based on available research and stylistic features. If you have additional information, please contact us to help update 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:

D0056

Dimenions:

420(h)

x 160(w)