German Bisque Googly Doll, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
A family friend passed away and left it to me, and I looked it up on the Internet about five years ago, and found out that it was a 10 1/2-inch bisque-headed doll and it has a marking on the back of its neck, and I put it back in a box and left it there and never thought much about it afterwards.
APPRAISER:
Anything else about the maker or anything that you found online?
GUEST:
I believe it was German.
APPRAISER:
It is German. It's made by a German doll maker called Armand Marseille. He made dolls from about 1885 up until about 1930. And he made all different types of dolls. This happens to be a Googly, which is a very sought-after doll. It's bisque-headed, like you said. Very impish looking, if you look at the face and the smile. Also glass Googly eyes, or eyes that move to the side. Very nice quality bisque. A five-piece composition body, and it's also marked on the back of the head. It only has a mold number on it, and it's mold number 240, which denotes that it's a Googly by this maker. Anyone ever talk about the value of it?
GUEST:
I looked it up, and I thought it could be anywhere from $800 to $1,000 five years ago.
APPRAISER:
Very seldom seen in this size. Normally you see them anywhere from five to eight inches. Ten inches is very unusual. At auction, this doll in this condition, even though it has a few eye chips, would probably bring in the neighborhood between $4,000 and $5,000.
GUEST(laughs): Brilliant.
APPRAISER:
Yeah.
GUEST:
If it was restrung, would it improve the value of it?
APPRAISER:
Not at all. It's only a $10 or $20 restringing fee to do something like that. Most of the value is in the head. It's not a typical doll that you would see.
GUEST:
It's something you wouldn't want sleeping in the bedroom with you, either, with the eyes.
APPRAISER:
Eyes like that, yeah.
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