Klay & Hahn Character Doll, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
She was my aunt's doll and part of a collection. My aunt left me about 36 to 40 dolls when she died in 1974. I don't know how old she is or anything else about her.
APPRAISER:
How lucky for your aunt to leave you such a wonderful doll. You may have noticed my expression when you pulled it out of the box. This is a doll made about 1910. It was during a period when German dolls had open mouths with little teeth and the eyes opened and closed. But this trend for a more character-looking doll began. And this doll was made by a company called Klay and Hahn. It's called a character doll because if you'll notice, it has kind of dimples, it has a little slightly kind of grin, it's just different from other dolls of that time. The head is made of bisque, which is a fired porcelain, but not glazed. The eyes are painted rather than glass, and the body is all composition. And you'll notice when we arranged it, we had to kind of arrange the arms because they were loose from the body. This doll would be marked on the back of the head by Klay and Hahn, and then there'd be a number, "520," which would be the style number of the head, and it will say "Germany" and then a size number. It has its original clothes and even though they seem a little crumpled right now, they're actually very nice for original clothes. Original shoes and socks, and then the hair, which is mohair, which was the hair from a long-haired goat. These dolls usually always had mohair and not human hair wigs. Character dolls are very popular now, and this doll in a retail shop would be priced about $3,500 to $4,500.
GUEST:
Wow. Wow! Oh, my aunt would be so surprised. Oh, my gosh.
APPRAISER:
Isn't that great?
GUEST:
Woah!
APPRAISER:
This doll looks like it's in very poor condition, but in all reality, it isn't. All it needs is to be restrung, and then the clothing just pressed and fluffed up a bit. The price would be a little bit higher if those things were done. It would go up to maybe $5,000.
GUEST:
She's more precious now than she was yesterday!
APPRAISER:
She's really great.
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