Schlaggenwald Doll Head, ca. 1845
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GUEST:
It belonged to my mother. She received it from her grandmother when she was a child. I don't know at what age. And she lived in Wisconsin, that's all I know about her.
APPRAISER:
Okay, so what time frame are we talking about?
GUEST:
Well, I would think she received it somewhere in the '20s.
APPRAISER:
1920s, okay.
GUEST:
Mm-hmm.
APPRAISER:
Okay, it's a German china head.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
Very nice portrait face, very low, long breastplate, super-duper hairdo, with this sort of loop in the back.
GUEST:
Yeah.
APPRAISER:
And it's not really the 1920s.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
It's been around a little bit longer than that. It's possibly made by a company in Germany called Schaleggenwald.
GUEST:
Okay.
APPRAISER:
There's no mark on it other than a number in the front, and it dates from the late 1840s.
GUEST:
Oh, wow!
APPRAISER:
So it's, you know, quite old.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
You know, good brushstroking here, very nice face.
GUEST:
Oh, my.
APPRAISER:
A little bit of this firing which happened in the making, which has not harmed the doll.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
It originally would have had a cloth body, with china arms and legs.
GUEST:
Mm.
APPRAISER:
And, you know, perfectly dressed in the 1840s era. So it probably would have been your great-great- grandmother's doll.
GUEST:
Oh, okay.
APPRAISER:
So, uh, let's see, the possible Schaleggenwald, what are you worth? Uh, probably, just as a head, probably $2,500 to $3,000.
GUEST (gasps): Oh, my goodness!
APPRAISER:
And as a whole, complete doll, up to $4,000.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
So you got a really good treasure that's been in your family.
GUEST:
Thank you.
APPRAISER:
Good, thank you!
GUEST:
That's great, thank you.
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