Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Doll Dressed by Queen Victoria's Eldest Daughter to Sell at Bonhams

A wax doll dressed by Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, the Empress Frederick of Germany (christened Princess Victoria, the Princess Royal), is to be sold at Bonhams, Knightsbridge on Wednesday 26th May. It will be a part of the Fine Dolls and Teddy Bears sale.
The Empress dressed the doll in 1868. She donated the doll to a bazaar in London to raise funds for impoverished Germans in the city circa 1868. It was bought by the financier Baron von Schroder. The doll wears a beautiful long white cotton and lace dress with a pink satin underskirt, layers of underclothing and a ribboned bonnet.
There will also be one of the first wooden dolls ever made (circa 1680) offered for auction. The doll is dressed in the habit of the Carmelite convent at Bethune. The few known 17th century dolls dressed in habits are thought to have belonged to the children of Catholic families, who were sent abroad to be educated. They would send their doll back to England dressed according to the order they had joined, and to signify that they were safe. The estimates are between £10,000 – 15,000.
Further highlights include Bru Bebe (estimate £6,000 – 9,000), circa 1875; a papier-mache German doll, which comes with a note stating that the doll was bought at Birmingham Fair ‘by SL Bartham for her sister AE Bartham’; a Sleeping Beauty musical automaton (estimate £10,000 – 15,000), dated circa 1880, which winds up to feature a ‘breathing’ Beauty, and a Prince playing a lute; and a remarkable Noah’s Ark (estimate £3,000 – 5,000), built in Germany in the 1870s, which comes with a complete set of animals, from lions to grasshoppers.
Is anyone ready to bid?
Michelle minidolls.com

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