Friday, July 9, 2010

My Very First Antiqued Bisque Doll

I'm so excited!!!When Madame and I went thrifting I found this beautiful bisque doll sitting alone on a shelf. Better yet.....the day we went it was 1/2 price on everything but green tag. My lady was yellow.....$6.99, that made her a whooping $3.50. I really was amazed to find there is a mold number on her breast plate, I kept repeating 1896, COD 2 DEP, as if I could conjure up what the letters and numbers meant. Her silk feels scrumptious and does the feathers of her boa.
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I believe her hair is real human hair although it is really hard to tell, saran will have the same feel to it if it is kept exposed. She has to most marvelous pins in her hair and I can life the wig to see a head cap underneath. A lot of antique dolls were made with a entering hole on the top of their head so there was access to the sleep eyes, she has that hole.


The minute I saw the teeth, I kinda knew this doll is no ordinary porcelain doll. I really don't care to collect the breakable characters primarily because they all are......so pretty, it's hard to choose. I do have a few which I deem as unusual.

Searching on the Internet I found COD stands for 'Cuno Otto Dressel', Cuno and Otto are brothers, they had Dressel dolls which were manufactured from the 1700'2 to 1945 or there abouts. It was a business passed from one relative to another.


DEP is a marking Armand Marseille used, it was common place for the pricey doll head designers to sell molds to other companies and they did frequently. They were the top french bebe doll makers and today, the name is well sought after. Some people believe DEP is a registration mark from the french trade.

1896 stands for the series the doll falls under, portrait dolls.


She is stuffed with hard sawdust or rags, her legs are classic of the German dolls on the market.

I'm thinking she is not a reproduction as I found her mold numbers listed at several online auctions, most dolls had the sleep eyes but Simon manufactured some painted eyes. I wouldn't think the reproducer could use the mark or mold but who knows??


I still love her just the same. C&G Design


Words and photos by Dawn,C&G Design.

7 comments:

Debbie said...

I think that is quite a find Dawn! How are you? How's the new room coming? Can't wait to see the finished product? How's the garden doing? No pictures from you! Mine is going nuts! I have to get out there and weed today and of course water, water, water, with all this heat! I hate this weather....can't wait til fall. Stay cool.

tina said...

I'm thinking a $3.50 find might be a find of enormous proportions if you can sell her for a BIG profit.

Roses and Lilacs said...

Hi Dawn, is she worth a lot to collectors?

You do have the absolute best thrift shops in your hometown.
Marnie

Jean Merriman said...

Wow, it sounds like you hit the jack pot!!!! She is so pretty, I love her hair.

Lola said...

What a find. She is so cute.

Skeeter said...

Dawn, your thrift shops must not be doing their research or they just want to quickly move items to make a quick buck. Their loss, your Gain big time girl....

Congrats on this awesome find...

Dawn said...

Marnie, The compared dolls are between $160.00 and $200.00, keeping in mind they have the sleep eyes. I would guess....or think...mine is at least $100.00 but being no expert, maybe someone will let me know.