Antique Doll Makers - 1840-1930

Who doesn't love a beautiful creamy porcelain facedMarseille was one of the largest and best known
doll dressed in long flowing dresses of so long ago?porcelain doll head makers. Born in St. Petersburg,
Today the antique dolls available on the market wereRussia in 1856, he emmigrated to Germany with his
made by a handful of makers who were from eitherfamily ca. 1860 and doll business was going strong by
France or Germany, where the art of doll making1886 after he bought a toy factory and a porcelain
was at its peak in the years between 1840 and 1930.factory, producing 1000 heads a day from 1900 -
During these years there emerged in France a young1930.
man by the name of Leon Casimir Bru, the youngestAll types of dolls were made there; bisque child,
son of a weaver.The young Bru went to work for ababy, lady and character dolls with kid leather bodies.
dollmaker in Paris... and history began there.As Marseille worked, so did Heinrich Handwerck, who
Soon after he began in the work of doll making, Bruwas beginning his career in 1876. In 1902 Kammer and
opened his own manufacturing company. His first dollsReinhardt bought Handwerck out and produced the
resembled other makers' creations, but his later ones,Handwerck dolls until 1832.
1870 and on, carried a signature mark of Bru as heThe original dolls by Handwerck were designed by
worked to stand out from the many other makersHandwerck but produced by Simon and Halbig and
of the time.marked by very high quality that continued under
Today we have the highly sought after, highlyKammer and Reinhardt. Ernst Kammer and Franz
exquisite, highly expensive Bru dolls, a name everyReinhardt founded the Kammer and Reinhardt
collector longs to have in his collection.company in 1886 in Waltershausen, Thuringia,
Also emerging in France at that time, or sometimeGermany. Designers of their own heads, they had
before Bru, was Francois Jumeau. He married into thethem produced by Simon and Halbig as they did not
business, marrying the niece of a doll maker. Whenown a porcelain factory. As stated above, they
Jumeau's wife died, he opened his own company, hispurchased the Handwerck company and then bought
own porcelain factory, and made the bebe dolls thatthe Simon and Halbig company as well.
became so popular in those times and are so popularErnst Heubach, the son of a weaver, entered the
now... dols that looked like a little girl rather than likeworld of doll making when he married the daughter
an adult woman.of Armand Marseille in 1919.
The antique Jumeau today is highly prized for itsThe two companies, Heubach and Marseille, merged
delicate, exquisite beauty, which was manufacturedand became the United Porcelain Factory of
between the years of 1972 to 1899. In GermanyKoppelsdorf, Germany. The companies went their
during those years the German makers were just asown ways once more in 1939.
busy.The exquisite dolls made so long ago by this handful
They were probably led by J.D. Kestner who wasof French and German doll makers are now searched
making dolls as early as 1820. By 1860, after Kestnerfor by serious collectors of the time. Seeing the
had died and his grandson took over the business.beautiful faces with the painted or glass eyes looking
They bought their own porcelain factory to makestraight at you with a sense of wisdom that a doll
porcelain heads. They continued to make dolls untilcannot really have... makes you feel the essence of
1938.the doll maker himself has been made a real part of
Armand Marseille was another German maker whoseeach doll.
dolls are highly prized by antique collectors today.