By Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson
Scripps Howard News Service
Dear Helaine and Joe: My son inherited this doll from his grandmother, who got it from her mother when she was about 10 years old some 92 years ago. The doll is marked "Cilbergmann Simon & Malbie." We would appreciate any information about this doll you can provide. Thank you. — T.T., Falls Church, Va.
Dear T.T.: It is often extremely difficult to read the markings on the back of a doll's head with any accuracy. We get many, many questions about dolls that we cannot answer because the markings are reported so incorrectly that we cannot determine with any certainty what the piece in question might actually be.
In this case, however, the mark noted by T.T. is a little off, but it was not hard for us to figure out that it really reads "C M Bergmann" and "Simon and Halbig." The first name, "C M Bergmann," signifies that this doll was made in Waltershausen, Thuringia, Germany, in the C. M. Bergmann doll factory, which went into production in 1886.
In some cases, it is reported that Bergmann made the entire doll, but in many other instances, Bergmann purchased the doll's bisque porcelain head from other companies such as Armand Marseille; Alt, Beck and Gottschalck; or Simon & Halbig. Simon & Halbig was an important German doll manufacturer that made heads for several different makers other than themselves, and these heads were generally (if not always) plainly marked with the Simon & Halbig name.
The doll belonging to T.T.'s son is a child doll that should have a ball-jointed composition body (we can see the wrists and this looks to be the case), and an open mouth with tiny porcelain teeth showing. She may have either permanently open eyes or opening and closing sleep eyes since these dolls were made both ways, and she appears to have her original wig.
This doll is probably a mold number 1916, and she was made sometime after about 1900 — closer than that we cannot come. Her monetary value depends on two factors, both of which we do not know — namely, her size and her condition. On the surface, this doll appears to be in great shape, but it is not uncommon for a bisque-headed doll such as this one to develop hairline cracks that are hard to see with the unaided eye. Despite the fact that such cracks are almost invisible in many cases, doll collectors hate these hairline cracks, and the presence of one could diminish the value of this doll considerably. As for the second factor, this appears to be a rather large doll, but it is very hard to judge from a photo.
If this doll is in perfect condition (no hairlines or other concealed problems) and an approximately 24-inch-tall example, its insurance replacement value is between $700 and $800. A 30-inch model should be valued at between $1,100 to $1,200, a 36-inch specimen $1,700 to $1,850, and a doll that towers 39 inches $2,500 to $2,800.
(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of the Price It Yourself (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can by mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.)
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