Rare German Bisque Character, 1448, by Simon and Halbig with Original Costume and Provenance

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16" (41 cm.) Bisque socket head, small blue glass sleep eyes, dark eyeliner, painted lashes, lightly-feathered brows, accented nostrils, closed mouth with pensive expression, accent line between the very full lips, pierced ears, blonde mohair wig, composition and wooden ball-jointed body. Condition: generally excellent. Marks: 1448 Simon & Halbig S&H 6. Comments: Simon and Halbig, circa 1912, from the firm's 1400 series created during the celebrated era of art character dolls. Value Points: rare model depicting a wistful faced child has exemplary bisque and painting, and is wearing multi-layered original traditional costume of Sweden. The doll was originally acquired in Germany about 1912 by the owner of a Swedish steel mill as a present to the young daughter of his chief engineer in the village of Monkbo, Sweden. A half-century later, Frederick Matsen, the noted American scholar of quantum chemistry and himself the son of Danish immigrants, traveled to the village where he met the then-aged original owner of the doll, and acquired it to bring to America as a gift to his wife. The doll resided in the Matsen family home until 2022.