Companion German Bisque Character "Babykins" Designed by Grace Story Putnam

Live Auction

It's time we begin to properly notice and respect the work of early 20th Century female doll artists, especially in America, and led by Grace Story Putnam. So often a victim of her success in being thought of as "just" the creator of the Bye-Lo, she was far more in her career as an artist and savvy creator/business woman. Many of her contemporaries can thank her for opening the doors to female doll artists of the time and for large distribution firms like Borgfeldt, and the German manufactures, starting to recognize that American artists held the key to better serving what was fast becoming the largest doll market in the world. This example of Babykins, perhaps the rarest of her designs, was likely never put into production (perhaps the Depression years impacting its ability for sales) but truly stands as, in my opinion, her greatest artistic work. This is not a Bye Lo, or even a variation, it is a uniquely designed new look that took Putnam's genius to a new level. Perhaps an irony that her greatest work as an artist is considered the rarest doll under her design.