Dolls have brought playtime joy to generations of children – and for some the fascination never ends.
Janet Rawnsley is a lifelong doll devotee whose love of toys emerged in childhood and has never left her. She’s built up a collector’s passion for her subject and I’m delighted to say she’s joined Hansons’ team of toy valuers as a dolls and teddies consultant.
Her passion for dolls, prams and toys began at the age of six or seven and that interest morphed into collecting at a fairly young age. As her expertise grew, she began writing books too. She likes to share her knowledge.
Such was her interest in antiques and history she spent her childhood wanting to look like an Edwardian – aided by jumble sales! As an adult collector she began to appreciate the doll workmanship that emerged in the early 1910s led by Käthe Kruse (1883-1968), a notable pioneer of German doll-making. She established manufacturing principles which persist to this day. Her original dolls remain highly collectible due to their realism and durability, and fetch high prices.
She also admires the work of Sasha Morgenthaler (1893-1975), a Swiss artist and dollmaker best known for the Sasha doll produced in Germany and the UK in the late 1960s. Popular with collectors, Sasha dolls are characterised by individualism, realistic expressions and extreme attention to detail.
Morgenthaler created face sculpts for her dolls with subtle expressions, not artificially exaggerated smiles. Her concern was that children surviving the horrors of the Second World War would not relate to such happy dolls in times of terror.
In the 1980s Janet ventured further afield to the Great Kensington Doll Fair in London and a love of Bisque-head fine French and German dolls began. But, being an adventurous collector, she grew to love Mattel’s Barbie and her funky outfits – all the rage around 1964-1967 – as much as Jumeau French dolls’ kid shoes.
Janet adores discovering dolls in original condition and says the mystery and excitement never wanes. For example, when a wonderful antique doll from, say, Au Nain Bleu in Paris is placed before her, she can’t help but wonder who originally bought this elegant creature with its trousseau of dresses, parasols and tiny hats from one of the finest doll shops in the late 19th century.
According to Janet, dolls and dolls’ houses mean different things to many people but the one great divide is always pre-WW2 and post-WW2. The bisque, cloth and felt compositions of the 1920s were swept away with factory wartime innovation using celluloid, plastics and vinyl.
British companies like Pedigree became market leaders, clever enough to produce both expensive luxury dolls and cheap accessible toys for shops like Woolworths and the mail order catalogues of the post-war era.
Looking Stateside, the USA added much to doll manufacture and innovation. American Character dolls and Chatty Cathy, a pull string ‘talking’ doll originally created by Ruth and Elliot Handler and manufactured by the Mattel toy company from 1959 to 1965, became popular. Chatty Cathy was on the market for six years and was the second most popular doll of the 1960s after Barbie.
More doll delight came from the Ideal Toy Company, an American toy company founded by Morris Michtom and his wife, Rose. During the post-WW2 baby boom era, Ideal became the largest doll-making company in the United States. Their most popular creations included Betsy Wetsy, Toni, Saucy Walker, Shirley Temple, Miss Revlon, Patti Playpal, Tammy, Thumbelina, Tiny Thumbelina, and Crissy.
But dolls that delight collectors come from many different countries. Antique wax dolls from the 19th century, made in England from 1955 onwards from the great Meech, Pierotti and Montanari companies in London, were followed by fabulous French bisque head BeBe dolls. Top makers included Steiner, Jumeau and Albert Marque together with the great German manufacturers of Simon & Halbig and Kestner. They were manufactured prolifically and enthusiasm for fine dolls was abundant.
But it isn’t just the dolls that excite, it’s the ephemera – the baby carriages, the nursery goods, the clothing and fine footwear. Such is the interest in items like these Janet will be leading specialist sales devoted to Fine Dolls, Dolls’ Houses, Teddy Bears and Juvenalia – and entries are invited Hansons’ inaugural sale.
If you have dolls or doll-related ephemera you wish to have appraised ahead of possible consignment to auction, please email [email protected].
Free dolls/teddies valuations with Janet Rawnsley will be available on February 26 at Bishton Hall, Wolseley Bridge Staffordshire. To book an appointment, email Mark Holder: [email protected]. Mark can value general toys and railwayana. General toy, gaming and live steam valuations are also available at Etwall Auction Centre, Derbyshire. Email David Wilson-Turner: [email protected].
Free doll/teddy valuations in Knutsford, Cheshire
Janet Rawnsley will be offering free valuations at St John’s Knutsford Church Centre, Church Hill, Knutsford, WA16 6DH, on February 25, 2022, 11am-1pm, together with general valuer and Asian art and ceramics specialist Charles Hanson. Regular valuation events are planned for the venue. Future dates include March 11/25, April 8/22, May 6/20 and June 10/24. To find out more or to arrange a home visit in Cheshire to assess antiques, please email: [email protected] or call 01283 733988.
