Vintage Antique Doll- Armand Marseille with Dutch Costume 390 AG/OM
History
Armand Marseille was born in 1856 in St. Petersburg, Russia, the son of an architect, and emigrated to Germany with his family in the 1860s. In 1884 he bought the toy factory of Mathias Lambert in Sonneberg. He started producing porcelain dolls' heads in 1885, when he acquired the Liebermann & Wegescher porcelain factory in Köppelsdorf. In 1919 the firm merged with Ernst Heubach but they separated in 1932. The combined firm was known as the "Vereinigte Köppelsdorf Porzellanfabrik vorm. Armand Marseille und Ernst Heubach".Maximum production was 1000 dolls heads a day. Production continued to around 1930.
The company manufactured bisque heads from moulds for their own dolls and for other doll-makers. They never made the bodies but brought them in from other manufacturers.
Mould 390 and mould 370 are the most common. 390 was a head mould that was fitted to a composition body; 370 had identical features but was a head and shoulders mould that fitted to a stuffed leather (kid) body. This mould was used for over thirty years. The dolls are stamped with a variety of marks that usually contain the initials A.M.
Armand Marseille made a large variety of baby dolls, dolly-faced child dolls and character dolls. Brand names include Floradora, Queen Louise, Darling Dolly, the Dream Baby and Just Me.
This Vintage Armand Marseille Antique Doll is made from a bisque head, composition , wooden hands and body.
The head is smooth and intact.
Marked on the back of her head is "Armand Marseille 390 AG/OM".
The top of her arms are wooden and from the elbow down they are composition.
The top of her legs are wooden but from the knee down they are composition.
This doll has beautifully painted eyelashes, eyebrows and lips.
She has blue glass eyes ,that close when she is laid down, and a open mouth showing four white teeth.
Her brown wig is parted in two plaits.
She is 30cm tall and is made in Germany.
Her right composition hand has one finger missing ,her arms are strung but very loose.
She is wearing a cotton discoloured white top with a red and white polka dotted cotton jacket ,which is discoloured and has some holes on the front.
Her long blue and white striped cotton skirt is discoloured.
She is wearing white discoloured bloomers and a petticoat, with black socks and handmade wooden Dutch shoes.
Around her neck is a gold coloured metal necklace.
This a collectors item and not suitable for children.