Hertwig's Negligé-Damen

This page from an old Hertwig and Company catalogue displays two delectable damsels clad only in teddies of sheer lace, trimmed with fine ribbon. Hertwig advertised these long-legged lovelies as Negligé-Damen gekleidet (women dressed in negligees).


And here are the two Negligé-Damen pictured in the catalogue, still clad in their lace chemises. Of excellent precolored bisque, they are beautifully sculpted, with expressive faces, delicate gesturing hands, slim realistically modeled bodies, and lithe shapely legs. In addition to their lace and ribbon outfits, they have tinted lavender stockings and molded heeled pumps.

The ribbon straps over her slender shoulders have started to shred, but her lace negligee is still intact. The facial features, such as her parted lips, were cold painted and are subject to wear and fading over the years. She is 5 inches long and 3 inches high and any marks are hidden by her original outfit.

This flirtatious flapper retains both her original outfit and vivid coloring. She is 6 inches long and 2.5 inches high.

A German Translation of French Femme-Poupees

Looking both defiant and delectable in her roguishly open short robe, this gorgeous gamine is of excellent bisque. She is 5.5 inches tall and incised "Germany" across the back of her robe and "Sp 594" on her round base.

She clearly was inspired by this print by Maurice Milliere, a popular French illustrator of the 1920s and 30s, who gained fame for his "femme-poupees (doll women)," laughing young ladies with lithe limber bodies, smoky eyes, and fluffy curly hair. The print is in fact entitled La Poupee de Milliere, and Milliere did indeed market little poupees of his femme-poupees, chalkware cuties copied from his prints, with a facsimile of his signature on the base.







However, this bisque beauty does not bear Milliere's signature, and, one assumes, his approval. Here she appears in a German catalogue that originally had been attributed to Hertwig and Company. In 2000, the doll auction company Theriault's sold dolls, figurines, and half-dolls from the archives of Hertwig and Company. These included figurines with the "Sp" mark. Later, in The Ladies of Hertwig, Theriault's published reprints of pages said to be from original Hertwig factory catalogues, including this page. Based on this information, I attributed several figurines in my book to Hertwig. However, Marc and Shona Lorrin, in their book, The Half-Doll, Volume 5, reproduced a page from an old catalogue from Limbach Porzellanfabrik showing that the company used model numbers preceded by "Sp" on its figurines. But why did Hertwig have Limbach catalogues and products in its archives? According to the Lorrins, in 1922, Hertwig took a controlling interest in Limbach, which was suffering from financial difficulties.  Standing next to her on the catalogue page is her nude sister.

Here is her long lost sibling, although missing her original bisque base. This little nubile nude is unmarked.

Ladies of Mystery

Actually there is no mystery who made this masked mademoiselle, because on the back of her base is the crowned intertwined "G" and "W" of William Goebel. Five inches tall and of excellent bisque, this exquisite half doll is part of a scarce and highly sought after series of delicious damsels in black domino masks. The mask is actually molded, not merely painted on, and her blue eyes have black pupils with white highlights. A beauty patch on her cheek calls attention to her full coral lips.

This is a close up of the Goebel mark, which came into use around 1900.

Here is the same masked marvel in full figure. Unmarked, she is 5.5 inches long. Her gray pumps with the darker trim are typical of Goebel, and her legs are tinted gray to represent sheer silk stockings. The wig is a replacement.

Strumming her mandolin, this masked miss is one of the most sought after Goebel ladies. She even has her original wig of white floss. Frankly, wigs were Goebel's weak point. Often, as in this beautiful belle, they were little more than a hank of mohair or floss wrapped around the figure's bald pate and held in place with tiny pins. Because they were not sewn to a supporting wig cap, the fragile wigs tend to unravel and fall apart. As large as she is lovely, she is 5 inches long and 4 inches high. Underneath she is incised "3739" and "B," and is also stamped "Germany" in black.

Another desirable damsel, admiring herself in her mirror. She has the remains of her original floss wig and is 4.5 inches long and 3.75 inches high. Except for a freehand black "E" painted underneath, she is unmarked.

This poor little lady suffered a fall sometime in the past, but she is still lovely and her scarcity makes her well worth some restoration. Despite her tumble, she has retained the remains of her original floss wig. Stamped "Germany" underneath in black, she is 5.5 inches long.

It Takes Two to Tango

A fellow collector alerted me to this image, appearing on the youtube video, Masculine Women, Feminine Men (it appears at 1.27). The reason? 

This toothsome twosome by Galluba and Hofmann.  These delectable dancers are 8 inches tall and incised "9039" underneath. There is no doubt this china figurine was inspired by the postcard image.   But where did the image come from? Although signed, the image from the video was too blurred to make out the signature. 

 Doing a little research on the Internet, I came across this postcard picturing another prancing pair. The style of the painting seemed similar to that of the first image, and the signature appeared to be the same in style and shape. But really first caught my eye, was that this second image also inspired a figurine in my collection. . . .

Clad in gowns covered in glitter, described in German catalogues as flittergold, these bisque tangoing ladies outfitted in Edwardian elegance are 5.25 inches tall and incised “Germany 8918.”

The signature on the postcard is "Usabal." A little research on vintage postcard websites found Usabal was a prolific painter of seductive Edwardian beauties, and had produced a series of couples, male and female or women, entwined in the tango, including both of these images. However, the artist was variously referred to as Louis Usabal, Luis Usabal, Lotte Usabal, or Lottie Usabal, and was identified as Italian, German, or Spanish. After little more research, I came across footage of Spanish artist Luiz Usabal Y Hernandez (1876-1937) painting portraits of silent screen sirens (in the film, he is referred to as "Louis Usabal, famous artist from old Valencia in Spain"). Pulling up examples of Luiz/Louis Usabal's art, including his movie star porfolio, it was clear to me he is the artist of these two images. His style is the same, the signatures are identical, and the time period is right.

All in a Bustle

This beautiful belle hides a secret under her hinged bustle. . .

. . . which, when lifted, reveals a brown beetle crawling up her bare bottom. The beetle is actually molded, not merely painted on. The painting on this high-quality porcelain piece is of the finest, with delicately hand painted floral designs alternating with decorative designs and gilt touches. Not visible in the picture is the dangling garter ribbon at her raised left knee. The quality of the decoration is evident in her hair, with its elaborate tiers of curls striated with individually painted gray lines, and her finely painted aristocratic features. This china lady is 7.25 inches tall. She is an uncommon and hard to find figurine. However, she is also being reproduced. The new piece has lost the many fine painted details of the old, especially the hair, which lacks the delicate striations, and the facial features, which are very simply and blandly painted. The elaborate handpainted designs on the dress are reduced to alternating stripes in the new version, which carries a mark with cyrillic (Russian) lettering. The repro also does not have the garter ribbon. But perhaps the most important detail missing from the reproduction is the bug on her buttocks!

A previous owner helpfully looked up her mark. Carl Thieme did establish a porcelain factory in Saxony in Germany in 1872, and used this mark, along with several others. Thieme died in 1888, and in 1901 the factory began using an "SP Dresden" mark for the Saxonian Porcelain Factory. The factory is still in existence and their current figurines certainly resemble this elegantly erotic lady. I have also seen this figurine with a beehive mark that was also sometimes used by Thieme.

Another lovely lady whose hinged bustle lifts up to expose a rather voluptuous pair of buttocks. I have never seen this particular bustle belle before. She is superbly modeled, from the ruffles in her cap to her gracefully gesturing hands. There is an applied rose, carefully built up of tiny porcelain petals, tucked into her bosom and at her feet are a variety of bright applied flowers. Her light brown hair has darker fine striations, giving the appearance of individual tresses, and the floral design on her underskirt is all hand painted. Her face is particularly pretty, with finely painted features, including brown eyes and parted lips.

Although this piece is marked with the gold anchor used by Chelsea porcelain factory from 1756 to 1769, this mark was widely copied by porcelain companies throughout Europe. While she is beautifully modeled and decorated, the coloring and style are not that of a 18th century figurine. The main indicator that this piece is NOT Chelsea is that it is not modeled of the soft paste porcelain produced by that factory. China first produced what is called hard paste or true porcelain, a mixture of a white clay called kaolin and feldspar. The resulting slip is plastic and can be modeled or molded into intricate shapes or the thinnest vases and, fired at high temperatures, produces a hard, bright white porcelain with smooth, fine grain. The Chinese guarded the secret of their porcelain, which was highly sought after by Europeans, who referred to it as “white gold.” Europeans tried to discover the formula for porcelain, and in the late 1500s, in Italy, soft paste porcelain was created. Soft paste porcelain does not vitrify like hard paste porcelain and must be fired at lower temperatures. It has a more creamy background and is more porous and appears less glassy than hard paste. Soft paste porcelain is also not as plastic as hard paste porcelain and is more difficult to model. Hard paste porcelain was first produced at Meissen in the early 1700s (for the fascinating story of the discovery of the formula for hard paste porcelain by an imprisoned alchemist, check out the book the The Arcanum by Janet Gleeson). Although most people now use the terms china and porcelain changeably, some collectors argue that porcelain should be applied only to the finest, most translucent, high-fired wares.

If she is not Chelsea, who made her? One possibility is the French company of Samson Edmé et Cie was established by Edmé Samson, also known as Samson the Imitator, which produced high quality copies of early Meissen, Dresden, Chelsea, and other famous porcelains, up to the early 1900s. However, I suspect she is a fine quality piece produced by a German manufacturer, sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s. But, I did not add her to my collection because I thought she was a rare piece of Chelsea, I acquired her because she is NAUGHTY!

The is a Japanese copy of the first bustle belle. Although unmarked, the facial painting, the orangish blushing, and the decal flowers and painting all point to a Japanese manufacturer.

Anyone lifting her bustle hoping for a peek at some callipygian charms will be sorely disappointed, because she is hollow!

Fake Galluba and Hofmann Bathing Beauties

This bisque bathing belle has been appearing for years in antiques markets and online auctions. She is something of a lady of mystery. She is made of tinted bisque and has a uneven, and sometimes shiny, complexion. The bisque is rather rough, so it does not have the appearance of new bisque, and the painting is appropriate for an old piece. She often has a black long wig, but has also been found bald or in various outfits.

She is clearly a copy of this lissome and lovely Galluba and Hofmann lady. This genuine Galluba has the excellent bisque, flawless pale complexion, and exquisite workmanship that are the hallmarks of an authentic Galluba beauty. The modeling on the copy is not as crisp as on the original, which suggests the copy either was made from a worn mold or molded from an existing piece.


The face on the copy is rather well done. . .











but does not match the delicate and detailed features of the true Galluba. The intaglio eyes with deep pupils and white highlights are standard for Galluba. The copy does not have intaglio eyes, giving her a rather flat, vacant look. Whoever is making the copy is clearly using the Galluba face as a template.


Once it is set next to the extraordinary original, it is easy to distinguish the copy.






Mundial Company of Belgium is now producing its own version of this Galluba model. The facial painting and finishing on the Mundial copy of low quality, but could fool honest dealers and collectors who have not had a chance to handle the scarce and exquisite original. Mundial is also producing the figurine with painted stockings and a mask. Mundial has added to its already extensive line of half dolls, bathing beauties, and all bisque dolls, and all collectors and dealers should check out the newest catalogue website. So far, it appears the Mundial still continues to fail to clearly mark its copious copies. However, many of the pieces it produces, because they were made from molds taken from the antique originals, carry old numbers and marks. The peices are also often made look worn and dirty, giving these new items the look of authentic age. These new "old" items are appearing in antiques markets, shops, shows, and online auctions, where they are often offered as antique.

An Italian Half Doll by Richard Ginori?

In 1997, my parents spent the summer in Florence, Italy, where my father was teaching a summer law course. My mother found this exquisite pincushion doll in a small antique shop near their apartment in Santa Croce Square.

She does not resemble any half dolls by known German or French makers. Her facial painting is very unusual, with a grayish lavender shading around her eyes, as well as shading between her parted lips. The eyes have an upper lid line in black, while the lower is red, and the blue eyes have large black pupils and an iris outlined in a dark color. Her blonde hair has darker brushstrokes, giving the illusion of individual tresses. The fine porcelain has a very smooth creamy color, with darker shading between her breasts and fingers. Although she was awarded a blue ribbon at an annual convention of the United Federation of Doll Clubs, no dealer or collector I have shown her to has been able to identify her maker.

Some time back, at the Pottery and Glass forum on eBay, a fellow eBayer put up a beautiful female porcelain figurine for identification. I immediately saw the striking resemblance between this figurine and my half doll. The figurine was marked "Italy" and with a crowned "G," which was identified as the mark of Richard Ginori. I posted a picture of my half doll, and the other participants affirmed the remarkable resemblance. One of the participants, Walter Del Pellegrino, co-author of the book Italian Pottery Marks from Cantagalli to Fornasetti, stated that in his opinion this half doll has all the characteristics of being manufactured by Ginori. He also said that Ginori has a museum in Florence that includes an archive of factory catalogues and documents.

I then began a search for my own Ginori figurine I could use as a comparison piece for my half doll. I quickly found that the fine quality figurines are not common and they can be quite pricey. Finally, I secured this delicate damsel at a reasonable price because her slender neck has been broken and reglued. She is the same mold and model as the figurine in the eBay discussion, although the painting on my figurine is a bit more elaborate and she carries the crowned "N" mark without the Ginori name, which the company used on its products made in Doccia, Florence, from 1830 to 1890.

She has the same creamy ivory complexion as my half doll, with the darker sharing between the breasts and the fingers. The shaping of the arched eyebrows is identical and both pieces have the same shadowing around the eyes. The unusual painting of the eyes, with the black upper lid, red lower lid, and blue iris outlined in a darker color, is also the same. Both ladies have the same parted smiling lips with shading between. The hair on both figurines is overpainted with darker lines to give the illusion of individual tresses and the facial features, such as the broad foreheads and small pointed chins, also show a family resemblance.

So, is my pretty pincushion doll by Ginori? If she is, it would be a fantastic find for collectors of Italian porcelain and antique dolls, showing that Italy also produced high quality half dolls. I will be contacting the Museo Richard-Ginori della Manifattura di Doccia and asking for their help in my quest. I will update this blog if or when I receive further information.

A Bevy Of Bathing Beauty Bottles

The German firm of Schafer and Vater is renown for its comic or naughty nippers in a wide variety of shapes and sizes.  These novelty bottles once held a "nip" of alcohol and was often given away by saloons, liquor stores, or at carnivals as gifts or prizes.  Voluptuous bathing beauties in skin-tight swimsuits were a popular subject on Schafer's bawdy bottles.

This 5.5 tall bottle features a lithe lady moving slow and steady on the shell of her tortoise steed.  Although the blue and white bisque resembles Wedgwood jasperware, the white bas relief was not molded separately and applied to the blue background, but instead the effect was clearly created by carefully layering blue and white slip in the mold.  The bisque is excellent and the details sharply modeled.  Like many Schafer products, it carries only a number, in this case an incised “3877” on the back.

Another jasperware jug, this one featuring a bathing belle receiving a literal seal of approval (well, actually a sea lion).  Incised “3878” on back edge, this bottle is 5 inches tall. 

This 5 inch tall bisque bottle features a helpful elephant showering a smiling bathing beauty with both water and attention.  It is incised  “3877” on back.

The Schafer nippers were offered both in jasperware and tinted bisque.  This more conventional shower scene features a bathing belle rinsing off with her rather unhappy-looking canine companion.  Incised” 3864," this bottle is 8 inches tall.  

Another tinted bisque bottle, this one showing a swimmer having to deal with some very fresh seafood.  It is is incised “3876” on the back of base and is 4.5 inches tall.

Carl Scheidig Bathing Beauties

Marc and Shona Lorrin have just published Volume 7, the second to the last book of their series, The Half Doll. The book includes pictures of catalogue pages from the German firm of Carl Scheidig, established in 1906. This catalogue contains several pictures of bathing beauties

We can now identify this belle in brown as being from Scheidig. Of good bisque and nicely modeled and painted, she is 4.75 inches long and is incised underneath "6727." The catalogue number is "7485," but it is clearly the same mold. Perhaps the catalogue numbers did not correlate to the mold numbers, or the catalogue number refers to this model in a different size or treatment.

Another lovely little lady by Scheidig. The same size as her sister, this flapper is wearing a fashionable bathing suit in crisp blue and white. Underneath, she is stamped "Germany" in black and is incised "6690." The catalogue number is "7482."

Fakes in France

A friend of mine traveled to Paris earlier this month and while exploring an outdoor antiques market, she came upon this display of bathing beauties. She was hesitant to buy any because I had earlier warned her about reproductions, so she snapped this picture for me instead. It is a good thing she did, because every single nude, naughty, and bathing belle in this photo is a recent reproduction by Mundial Company in Belgium. This company produces many models of reproduction baigneuses (bathing beauties and naughties), poupees (all-bisque dolls) and demi-figurines (half dolls), all copies of German originals. Some of these reproductions are made to look worn and dirty, to give these new items the look of authentic age (and also to disguise the often poor quality). Mundial does not put its own mark on any of its items, but many pieces it produces, because they were made from molds taken from the antique originals, carry old numbers and marks, and some even have spurious marks. These new "old" items are appearing in antiques markets throughout Europe, on online auctions such as eBay, and even in antique shops and at antique shows, where they are often offered as antique. Mundial continues to churn out new lines of reproductions and the quality is improving. All dealers and collectors are urged to check out the Mundial website regularly to learn about Mundial's newest "antiques."

This is one of the Mundial repros that is pictured in the Parisian flea market booth. It is a poor copy of one of the ladies from the desirable black stocking series by the German company of Schafer and Vater. To the experienced eye, the abysmal quality of the bisque, modeling, and decoration, plus the applied staining and "dirt," clearly indicate it is a fake. Although Schafer sometimes had quality control problems, even on its worst days, it would never turn out such a low quality item. However, she is certainly good enough to fool a collector or dealer who never handled the antique original. She is unmarked, but some of the Mundial ladies carry an incised number and a crude three-point crown.

This lovely lively lass with her feline friend is the real deal. Look at the fine sharp bisque, the detailed modeling, from her free-flowing curls to the fine ribbing in her stockings. Many of these delicate details were lost in the copy. The fine combmarked curls of the antique are reduced in the repro to a bunch of lumps, and the expressive face with incised lid lines of the original becomes flat and lifeless in the repro. In this original, the folds in her chemise are crisp and deep, while in the repro they are reduced to faint rolls and indentations. Here the legs are slim and shapely, with slender ankles and dainty shoes with pointed toes. In the repro, the legs look thick and clumsy. The painting in this antique piece is delicate and detailed, especially her charming face with its parted smiling lips, while that in the repro is much heavier and cruder. Schafer was rather erratic with its marks, which were stamped into the clay during the greenware stage. This nubile naughtie is marked with an incised "2863/1," but I have seen others with the incised Schafer mark of an "R" inside of a crowned sunburst.

Another Mundial copy of one of the Schafer black-stocking series. She is unmarked.

And here is the Schafer antique original for comparison. She is also unmarked.

Mundial could easily and instantly stop this wide-spread misrepresentation of its repros as antiques by simply and clearly marking its products with its company name (an incised mark would be preferable to a stamped one, as the latter could be sanded off). For years its products have been showing up in antiques markets all over Europe, so Mundial is certainly aware at this point that its products are being widely misrepresented as old. In the face of all this fraud, why does Mundial continue to fail to mark its products?

The Original Beach Jams

With the summer season is passing, and many of us saying goodbye to sunny days spent on the beach, I thought I would take a look at sea-side resort wear in times past. This lithe long-legged lass wears her original one-piece beach beach pajamas, with wide flared legs and a sleeveless top. In the mid-1920s, pajamas came out of the boudoir to becoming elegant lounge, resort, and even evening wear. Such pajama sets consisted of a top and wide-legged pants, often with a matching jacket. By the 1930s, beach pajamas evolved into a one-piece jumpsuit, usually with a sleeveless or halter top and accessorized with a broad brimmed sun hat. Of fine precolored bisque, this 3.5 inch tall and long bathing belle is loop jointed at her hips and shoulders, and her elongated legs are molded to allow her to cross her legs. Her very slender body is molded in seated position with flat bottom. The 7 inch tall domed wicker beach chair has "Ostseebad Henkenhagen" written in partially obscured ink on the front bottom edge. Henkenhagen was originally a German seaside resort on the Baltic Sea, but it is now part of Poland; renamed Ustronie Morskie in 1945, its sandy beach is still a popular destination.

This picture from a 1930s Hertwig and Company catalogue displays the same slender siren, showing she was originally sold with a sun hat.

Here is her sister from the catalogue. Her beach pajamas have been lost to time, allowing us to see how she was modeled. In all my years of collecting, I have come across only these two jointed bathing beauties, suggesting that very few were made. And looking at their extremely thin and long arms and legs, many of these ladies were probably broken and discarded over the decades. She is incised "7815" on her lower back, matching the number in the catalogue, and is 3.25 inches tall when seated.

This picture shows the ladies' oddly elongated pates. The ever-thrifty Hertwig found a simple way to create the sunhats, modeling the heads so that the crown of the head did double duty as the crown of each hat. The hat itself was a simple circle of material, with the center cut out to fit over the top of the head. The raven-haired beauty has the top of her head painted green, and her blond companion retains traces of green on hers.

In 1932, American tennis champion Alice Marble caused considerable consternation when she appeared for a tennis match wearing white shorts. By the mid-1930s, shorts were becoming acceptable resort wear for fashionable females, and the one-piece beach pajamas began appearing with truncated legs. This china charmer models such a set. She is 3.5 inches high and is incised "19+34" on bottom, with "Germany" in raised letters.