American & German Doll Collection
GUEST:
They were my mother's play toys. She grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. And there's many more, but these are three of the things that I brought in today. This one, I think, is called a "sand baby," and it weighs seven pounds and if you hold it, it feels like an infant. This one is Shirley Temple--
APPRAISER:
Okay.
GUEST:
--and I believe these are original clothing that came with Shirley. And, um, I'm really not sure about anything with this one. It's just been up on a shelf. My husband thinks it looks like Scarlett O'Hara. So it really looks like that era, but I don't have any idea. I've never had an appraisal or anything on them.
APPRAISER:
Okay, we'll start out with Shirley. She's in very good shape other than a little problem with cracking here around her eyes, which happens to American composition dolls. Too much heat, too much cold, a lot of times, they'll start to split up. Now, she has her original dress with the tag, and in that kind of condition with that crackling and the original tag, I would say Shirley's probably worth $300 to $400. But... you have the cowgirl outfit.
GUEST:
Uh-huh.
APPRAISER:
That's something you don't find that often. Plus, Shirley has her boots. Her clothes are actually worth more than the doll itself.
GUEST:
Really?
APPRAISER:
So the outfit she has on and the cowgirl outfit there, you're probably looking at about $800 just for the clothing. Then you add a doll to the clothing, then you're over $1,000.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
On to the lady, the Scarlett O'Hara in the chair. There was a very lovely society lady in New Jersey in the '20s, early '30s called Dorothy Heizer. She did needle sculpted work. All types of fabulous dolls. This one again-- condition problems with the dress. A little bit worn, a little bit dusty. This particular version of the Heizer doll I would place it between $3,000 and $4,000.
GUEST:
Holy cow.
APPRAISER:
Now of course, if she wasn't as dusty, without all the stains, it could probably go up to the $5,000 to $6,000. The baby is made by a lady in Germany called Käthe Kruse. And this doll was made in the late '20s into the 1930s. It is weighted. It actually weighs five pounds. And they were play dolls as well as teaching things in hospitals and it comes with "awake" and "asleep." This kid's asleep. And my German pronunciation is usually wrong but it was called “Traumerchen.” The face has a little bit of wear. The bonnet is original. The original dress. A little bit of wear on the toes. In this condition, which is not bad, you're still looking at probably $4,000 to $5,000 on Sand Baby.
GUEST:
Wow, wow. Thank you very much.
APPRAISER:
Thank you.
Appraisal Details
Executive producer Marsha Bemko shares her tips for getting the most out of ANTIQUES ROADSHOW.
Value can change: The value of an item is dependent upon many things, including the condition of the object itself, trends in the market for that kind of object, and the location where the item will be sold. These are just some of the reasons why the answer to the question "What's it worth?" is so often "It depends."
Note the date: Take note of the date the appraisal was recorded. This information appears in the upper left corner of the page, with the label "Appraised On." Values change over time according to market forces, so the current value of the item could be higher, lower, or the same as when our expert first appraised it.
Context is key: Listen carefully. Most of our experts will give appraisal values in context. For example, you'll often hear them say what an item is worth "at auction," or "retail," or "for insurance purposes" (replacement value). Retail prices are different from wholesale prices. Often an auctioneer will talk about what she knows best: the auction market. A shop owner will usually talk about what he knows best: the retail price he'd place on the object in his shop. And though there are no hard and fast rules, an object's auction price can often be half its retail value; yet for other objects, an auction price could be higher than retail. As a rule, however, retail and insurance/replacement values are about the same.
Verbal approximations: The values given by the experts on ANTIQUES ROADSHOW are considered "verbal approximations of value." Technically, an "appraisal" is a legal document, generally for insurance purposes, written by a qualified expert and paid for by the owner of the item. An appraisal usually involves an extensive amount of research to establish authenticity, provenance, composition, method of construction, and other important attributes of a particular object.
Opinion of value: As with all appraisals, the verbal approximations of value given at ROADSHOW events are our experts' opinions formed from their knowledge of antiques and collectibles, market trends, and other factors. Although our valuations are based on research and experience, opinions can, and sometimes do, vary among experts.
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