$4,600
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sold
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Description
22" (56 cm.) Bisque socket head, brown glass inset eyes, dark eyeliner, painted curly lashes, rose-blushed eyeshadow, brushstroked brows, accented eye corners, shaded nostrils, slightly-parted lips, row of porcelain teeth, pierced ears, brunette human hair wig, metal torso with pierced sound holes, Sonneberg composition and wooden limbs. Condition: bisque and body excellent, phonograph mechanism appears complete but uncertain if working. Marks: 224 12. Comments: the American inventor, Thomas Edison, presented his phonograph about 1890, and to inspire its widespread use, he encouraged its use in a wide myriad of objects; a "talking doll" was one of these objects and for that purpose Edison used German bisque doll heads and limbs; in this present case, a bisque head by Bahr and Proschild. Yet while the phonograph machine succeeded, the Edison phonograph doll failed after six months, and few were ever made. Value Points: extremely rare doll with complete Edison mechanism.