Photographs and description courtesy of Sandra Bradford-Jennings
Name: German Bisque Open-Mouth Girl Doll
Made by and When: Handwerck (artist); Handwerck Halbig (manufacturer); 1910
Material: Light brown tinted bisque head; fully jointed wood and composition body
Marks: HANDWERCK HALBIG GERMANY 0 1/2″ (on the head; see gallery image of head marks)
Height: 15-1/2 inches
Hair/Eyes/Mouth: Original black human-hair wig/brown glass sleep eyes with painted brows and eyelashes/open-mouth, socket head with four upper teeth
Clothes/Accessories: Original beige dress with red print, lace-trimmed undergarments, white knit stockings, brown canvas shoes, and pierced earrings
Other: Sold by Richard Saxman Antiques, antique dolls with this doll’s complexion were originally referred to as mulatto. Saxman described the doll follows: Tinted bisque (light brown with a slight [Siena] hue) German child doll with socket head incised HANDWERCK HALBIG Germany 0 1/2” with brown glass sleep eyes, open mouth with slight smile and four upper teeth, molded and enameled furrowed eyebrows, tiny upper and lower lashes, pierced earlobes, and mounted to the original German fully jointed wood and composition body with good original patina which closely matches the color of the bisque head (one finger missing from the knuckle). The antique black human hair wig with side part is antique and appears to be most likely original as do the nice printed cotton dress with lace trim undergarments, white knit stockings and brown canvas shoes. Fortunately, the evenness of color throughout the head is remarkable as these dolls are so prone to cheek/color rubs and serious wig pulls as the painted surface is applied [to] the same as white bisque dolls so it leaves very little room for later abuse and/or improper firing or deficient firing methods which is so often the case with darker bisque surfaces (other than the Gebruder Kuhnlenz black dolls which are precolored all the way through). A charming doll is a desirable cabinet-size!
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