DOLL, PORCELAIN & WOOD

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Armand Marseille

1894

Subcollections

Overview

Clothed doll porcelain: brown hair, long plaits with red ribbon, jointed arms, elbows and knees.
Blue eyes, sleeping lids, teeth.
Face, lips, brows and cheeks painted.

There are two noticeable cracks on the face. Paintwork is chipped or flaking / missing in some areas on the face and limbs.

Head is made of painted porcelain with glass eyes. The hair is glued to buckram fabric moulded to cover the top of the head. The hair is very fragile and is detaching from the pate and thinning.
The shaped torso is made up of composite materials which may include hardened cardboard, paper mache, glue, sawdust or corn starch.
The limbs to the elbows and knees are painted wood and the limbs below these joints which include the hands and feet are low-fired clay.

The doll is dressed in pantaloons, a chemise, a petticoat, a dress, a smock and knitted boots. All garments are cotton.

Impressed marks at the back of the head indicate the doll was manufactured in 1894 in Germany by Armand Marseille.

Historical information

Originally owned by Lucy McCluney 1891 - 1961
Clothes made by Mrs Whitfield.
(Doll was dressed when donated to the museum collection.)

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-37-2001.160

Item type

Themes

Material

Height or length

37 cm

Inscriptions and markings

1894 / A.M. 1 DEP / Made in Germany
8- - 1826 written in pen on back of doll

Contextual information

Armand Marseille was a company in Thuringia, Germany (150 km north of Nuremberg) that manufactured porcelain headed (bisque) dolls from around the mid 1880s until about 1960. Armand Marseille entered into a partnership with another company in 1919 but this was formerly dissolved in 1928.

Typically the marks present on older dolls represent the maker's initials, the mould number, the size and where the doll was made.
In this case A.M. stands for Armand Marseille, 1 is the size and DEP (Déposé) indicates patented/registered design. The mould number does not appear.

Buckram is a stiff, woven fabric, traditionally linen or cotton, treated with a sizing agent like starch or glue to add rigidity. This was cut, moistened and placed over a mould the same shape as the doll's head. The hair was glued to the buckram creating the wig. The top of the doll's head often had a circular opening to allow access to set the eyes. The hole was then plugged with cardboard, plaster or cork forming the pate. The wig was glued to the pate and the porcelain, hiding the join.

Keywords

Doll

Place made

This company, founded by Armand Marseille

Year

1894

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Links to additional resources

https://www.dollreference.com/armand-marseille-dolls-german/

Doll Reference website

https://www.rubylane.com/relax/blog/armand-marseille