German Parian Doll Head, ca. 1870
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GUEST:
I've brought my great-grandmother's parian doll. My grandmother was going to give it to me, but my mother didn't think I deserved it, that I was too young and wouldn't appreciate it. So my mother held it for quite a while.
APPRAISER:
Right.
GUEST:
And then gave it to me. I've had it about the last 20 years.
APPRAISER:
They are referred to as a parian doll, they're also called untinted bisque, because she has a white bisque face. She is German. She dates from the 1870s. These heads were often sold as individual heads without having a body. This is a German Kestner body that would have gone on a Dolly Face doll rather than going on a parian doll. And it would have been a body that would have gone on a later doll. So when you look at the hands, you can see her gusseted leather elbows, and she has a pink coloring to her bisque, whereas her face is an untinted bisque, and so those are not the right arms, it is not the right body.
GUEST:
Hmm.
APPRAISER:
She would have gone more on a cloth body. The detailing is incredible. It's a beautiful example. She does not have any damage, which is very unusual. When it goes to valuing her, you are valuing her as a head only. Because the body doesn't go with her, the dress doesn't go with her, but she has value in her head. Her value would be somewhere between $2,000 and $2,500.
GUEST:
Wow, nice. (laughing)
APPRAISER:
Good, I'm glad you like that.
Appraisal Details
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