Kammer & Reinhardt "Hans" Character Doll, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
I know he's very old. I think he's around 1910. I know that he came from Germany and he was my dad's doll. And I know my dad, unfortunately, gave him a haircut...
APPRAISER:
(chuckles)
GUEST:
...that I'm not too fond of, but, um, it is what it is, and we're waiting for it to grow out.
APPRAISER:
(laughs)
GUEST:
Tommy has been in my possession since the '70s. He was in pieces in a shoebox when I received him. He's held together by a very thick elastic. I just said one day, "This is it, you're gonna go back together, Tommy." And I put him together, and he's been fine ever since the early '70s. All these clothes I received
with him.
APPRAISER:
You're very lucky to have a doll that doesn't need any restoration. It's... The body's in beautiful condition. The head has no damage. Has nice clothing. The wig is partially gone, but it's, it's still its original wig. So keep it that way. Your doll was made by a company called Kämmer & Reinhardt. They were two men in Germany that started the company in about 1890. They made dolls, and then in 1910, they started to make what they called character dolls.
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
They wanted dolls that had expression. Their first doll they made in that series was 100. And 100 was a baby with kind of a scowling face. And they kept doing these models...
APPRAISER:
...until they got to your doll, which is a number 114. The 114 was a very popular doll. It's marked on the back of the head K, star, R. It's the Jewish star, Star of David, and 114. When the dolls were marketed, some of the numbers were given names. Your doll, the number 114, if it was a boy, it was called Hans. And if it was a girl, it was called Gretchen. There's one feature that was very rare. It's the glass eyes.
GUEST:
Oh!
APPRAISER:
Almost all of them were painted eyes, but in some models, they put sleeping glass eyes.
GUEST:
Ah.
APPRAISER:
So they're very rare when they have the sleeping eyes. These are not factory clothing, but they're clothing that was made during the...
GUEST:
Oh.
APPRAISER:
...when the doll was being played with at the time. Your doll would probably retail for $6,200...
GUEST:
Oh, my...
APPRAISER:
...to $6,500.
GUEST:
My goodness, Tommy!
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