#32

Very Rare German Bisque Art Character, Model 106, by Kammer and Reinhardt
9 Watching
Live Auction

Onsite
$80,000
sold
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Estimate
$80,000 / $120,000
Gold Horse Guaranteed Gold Horse Listing
Description
21" (53 cm.) Bisque socket head of young lad with very expressive features, deeply-set eye sockets with painted blue eyes, white eye dots, heavily-modeled eyelids with thick black upper eyeliner, rounded nose, closed mouth with downcast lips, pronounced modeling of ears, highly-defined sculpting around the lower cheeks, chin and throat, brunette mohair bobbed wig, composition and wooden ball-jointed body, wearing antique brown/olive serge suit, undergarments, socks, black shoes. Condition: generally excellent. Marks: 106 (black ink script). Comments: Kammer and Reinhardt, circa 1910, from the firm's art character reform series. Value Points: exceptional quality of modeling on the very rare character model, enhanced by finest bisque and painting, original body and body finish, original wig.
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Stuart's Take

I am always fascinated with the lineage of dolls through collectors over the years. These are the additional stories that add to the flavor of what is already an extraordinary piece. I originally found this doll at the start of my career in the late 1980's. It had resided in the very early (and lost) collection of Lucy Earle of Pacific Palisades, CA. She was a fascinating person in her own right, collecting primarily in the 1920's-1940's when little was known and collecting dolls was quite closeted. At the auction we held at the time for her collection this 106 was obtained by Richard Wright for what was then a world record price (even featuring in an article in the LA Times). It stayed in his collection for a decade or more, later being offered to Rosalie for the museum.