Onsite
Highest Bidder
$12,000
Sold
sold

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- Estimate
- $11,000 / $15,000
Description
24" (61 cm.) Bisque socket head with slender angular features depicting an adult lady, aquiline nose, deeply-intaglio painted grey/blue eyes with heavily modeled lids and well-sculpted eye sockets, brushstroked brows, accented nostrils, closed mouth with solemn expression, shaded lips, pierced ears, brunette mohair wig, composition and wooden fully-jointed lady body with defined bosom, tiny waist and accentuated derriere, antique costume, velvet cape and wide feathered bonnet, undergarments and leather shoes. Condition: generally excellent, some typical wig pulls at back of head. Marks: Simon & Halbig S&H 152 10 (head) Heinrich Handwerck Germany (body). Comments: Simon and Halbig, circa 1910, according to research by German scholar Marianne Cieslik, the model was created as portrait of Rosa Luxembourg (1870-1919), the Polish-born German intellectual and social reformer whose short life was spent advocating the rights of the common man and woman, and who was considered a heroine in her time. Value Points: very rare portrait lady doll with historical background, having strongly-modeled features, especially of intaglio eyes and aquiline nose, choicest bisque and painting, rare regal size. Provenance: This doll was a gift to young Phebe Walker, in 1913, on her 12th birthday from her parents, Maude and Allen Walker. She lived her entire life in Washington D.C. and her father was instrumental in building the renown Mayflower Hotel. The doll has remained in the care of Phebe's original family until this time.