Pair, Rare French Bisque Character Dolls

Live Auction

each 14" (35 cm). Each has bisque socket head with distinctively shaped face, brown glass inset eyes in deeply set eye sockets with heavy eyelids, tinted brows and ombre eye shadow, tiny pointed nose, closed mouth with wide center line, blushed cheeks, red or brunette mohair wig, five piece French paper mache body with side-hip jointing. Condition: boy is excellent, girl has old faint hairline at back of head. Marks: SFBJ 239 Paris (incised) Poulbot (incised signature). Comments: designed by the French illustrator Poulbot, whose illustration posters featured young urchins of the Montmartre district of Paris orphaned by WWI; the posters were important aspects of charity drives to feed and clothe these children, and the dolls, designed by Poulbot and produced by SFBJ, circa 1916, are superb sculptural representations of the poster children. Value Points: very rare dolls, made for one or two years only, with superb modeling, bisque and painting, original bodies, the boy with his original factory costume.