The Complete Set of Six American

Live Auction

21" (53 cm.) Each of six all-hard-plastic dolls has socket head,sleep eyes,closed mouth,and five-piece body,with variations (as described for each below) of facial model,hair color and coiffure,painting of facial features including lips and eye shading,and costume and hair ornamentation. Condition: near mint/mint condition. Background: at the end of the WWI era,Madame Alexander looked to invigorate the doll world with new designs - in materials,in models,and in fashion. To accomplish this,she enlisted the aid of designers and moguls in the New York fashion industry who astutely determined that the flip of that coin would benefit them as well. This path,in fact,was not new. It was exactly the path that the French fashion industry had undertaken earlier in the 20th century when French artists such as Marque and Prevost-Huret had joined forces with Parisian couturiers to create artistic dolls in extraordinary costumes,to the benefit of both. The illustrious dolls that issued from the Alexander studios in the late 1940s and early 1950s have been described as "paeans to past perfection" (Madame Alexander Dolls,An American Legend). "The Godey Ladies","The Fashions of a Century",and,most notably the six extraordinary ladies known only as "The Mystery Dolls" were created during that time. All are highly desirable if found today,but do not compare with "The Mystery Doll Series" of 1951. The series never appeared in the Alexander catalogs,and it is likely that they were only made in the same limited numbers as the prized bisque French Marque doll of 1915. The reason is understandable. Each face is hand-painted to the highest of artistic standards and each is ornamented with luxury details such as a rhinestone beauty mark or hand-cut lashes with geometric detail. The coiffures are meticulous,of distinctive hand-dyed colors,with highly-stylized arrangements ornamented with jewels,lace or flowers. It is not known if the fabrics used in the construction were antique,but they are,surely,from the finest fabric houses of the world comprising hand-woven lace,softest silk satins,and the daintiest of fabric flowers. So spectacular were the dolls that in 1951 Beatrice Alexander received the celebrated Fashion Academy Gold Medal for her designs. In a photograph in the Jewish Women's Archive of New York,she is shown accepting the award from Emil Hartman,director of the New York Fashion Academy while an example of one of the "Mystery Dolls" is posed between them. What was most notable about this was that the Award had been meant to honor designers of "real people" costumes,and here it was,being awarded to a doll designer! A letter accompanying her 1952 Fashion Academy Award read,"Accenting fine fabrics and meticulous workmanship with the newest in fashion trends,you have imbued dolls' clothes with all the loveliness and smartness that might well characterize a leading couturier's collection". Each of the dolls in this set owns its original gold wrist award. "The Mystery Series" of six portrait dolls are known by collectors as Champs-Elysee,Victorian Bride,Lady with Rhinestone Beauty Mark (or Judy),Deborah Ballerina,Pink Champagne (or Arlene Dahl) and Kathryn Grayson. Presumably,these were not names used by the Alexander doll firm in 1951,but they are somewhat useful in identifying the dolls to collectors today. As rare as the individual dolls might be and that is exceptionally rare - this set is unique: it is the only complete set of six known to exist intact from one original owner. When the dolls first surfaced in 2003,the original owner noted that her grandfather had been in the New York fashion industry and had bought the dolls for her as a special gift. They had been in her possession since 1951 and she wished to have them remain together. The set was acquired by Judene Hansen and has been featured in her West Palm Beach,Florida doll museumsince that time.