Rare Character Dolls

Until the beginning of the 20th century, almost every doll maker had but one thought in his mind when instructing the artists who modeled the heads of new dolls - they must be pretty. The bisque-head dolls, produced in such numbers in France and Germany, were designed to resemble young and lovely ladies. But these dolls' beautiful faces tended to have a mask-like symmetry and sameness. In 1908, however, the appearance at a doll exhibition in Munich of the Art Doll revolutionized the international toy industry, and doll makers, led by the German manufacturers Kammer & Reinhardt, began to vie with each other to make character heads . Internationally known doll expert and dealer, Maree Tarnowska, has provided a fascinating study of these little known dolls. Drawing on the fine collections of, among others, Richard Wright and Ralph Griffith, she has produced a unique photographic record of the diverse character dolls manufactured in the early years of this century. The dolls illustrated range from the rare two-faced dolls made by the French company Bru, to such dolls as the Campbell Kids. Some of the most famous of all character dolls - Kammer & Reinhardt's Gretchen and Armand Marseille's Fany, for example, are illustrated and all of the dolls included, which were especially photographed by Maree Tarnowska for this book, are extremely rare. Grouped by manufacturer, the illustrations reveal the wide range of dolls that were produced - from Jumeau's Screamer to Kestner's Max and Moritz. Caroline G. Goodfellow, Curator of Dolls at the Bethnal Green Museum of Childhood in London, has contributed an Introduction, and the book has also benefited from the expertise and knowledge of Richard Wright and Ralph Griffith.