#182

Rare German Bisque Portrait Doll of "Princess Angeline" by Gebruder Heubach
Live Auction

Passed
Hero Image
thumbnail for item
Click image to enlarge
Description

14" (36 cm.) Bisque shoulder head with sienna tinted complexion depicting an aged woman, impressed wrinkles and creases overall face, painted tiny blue eyes, broad nose, closed mouth with downcast lips, original brown muslin body and composition arms, antique costume. Condition: generally excellent. Marks: 9457 Heubach (square) Germany. Comments: Gebruder Heubach, believed to be a portrait of "Princess Angeline", daughter of Native American Chief Seattle for whom that city was named. Princess Angeline, who lived out her aged life in Seattle, subsisting by digging clams, was one of the first Native American subjects photographed by famed photographed Edward Curtis. It is said that he paid her $1 for each photograph and Curtis recalled "that she preferred to spend her time having pictures taken to digging clams". Value Points: among the rarest of the Heubach models, the doll has extraordinary detail of sculpting and is a precise model of the historic person.