Onsite
Highest Bidder
$20,000
Sold
sold
Click image to enlarge
- Estimate
- $8,000 / $12,000
Gold Horse ListingDescription
18" (46 cm.) Bisque socket head with heart-shaped face, small blue glass sleep eyes, painted lashes, short feathered brows, accented nostrils and eye corners, closed mouth in wide smile with decorative glaze on lips, sculpted row of teeth, deeply-impressed double dimples in each cheek, blonde mohair wig, composition and wooden ball-jointed body, antique costume. Condition: generally excellent, some light body retouch. Marks: 1448 1 made in Germany. Comments: Germany, circa 1912, maker remains a mystery; the doll bears no relationship to another model 1448 by Simon and Halbig which has a pensive expression. Value Points: very rare model of which few other examples are known to exist, with captivating expression and very fine quality of bisque. The doll is shown in the book The Rose Unfolds by Rosalie Whyel and Susan Hedrick, page 180.
Stuart's Take
Truly, one of the most striking expressions you will ever find in a character doll. The perplexity of this is the number 1448 which is undoubtedly that of Simon and Halbig. Yet, the typically found 1448 is often a more pensive and softer expression. Yet, they are clearly of the same design. Almost as if one was a before and the other an after as you see in varying expression photos today.