$2,500
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Description
12" (30 cm.) Solid domed bisque head with flanged neck,sculpted short hair in casual tousled
style with well-defined sculpting details,tiny blue glass eyes,ochre eye shadow enhancing the
laughter lines,rounded nose with accented nostrils,open mouth in laughing
expression,tongue,row of four porcelain teeth,original muslin body,composition lower arms
and legs. Condition: generally excellent. Marks: Gladdie,Copyriht (sic) by Helen W. Jensen
Germany 1005/. Comments: the model appeared in the Borgfeldt catalog of 1929 under the
tradename of Gladdie; it was produced more commonly in an earthenware version,and rarely
in this bisque version,this also being a rare small size. Helen Webster Jensen,born in Chicago
in 1896 studied at the Art Institute of Chicago,and in 1928 moved to Santa Monica,California
with her husband where the two pursued a career in portrait bust sculpting; many of their
commissioned works exist in the Los Angeles area; she is cited in Edan Hughes Artist in
California. She died in Seattle in 1990,and it is likely that Gladdie was the only doll model she
sculpted. The doll was made in Germany,commissioned by the George Borgfeldt firm. Value
Points: superb sculpting portraying a beautiful laughing child with well-defined laughter lines
and dimples,finest bisque,enhanced by knowledge of its designer.