Antique Bisque Dolls
Antique doll collecting is gaining in popularity. This is especially true of German Bisque dolls. Although French Bisque dolls have been admired for many years collectors have found that German Bisque dolls are of equal quality and are now highly sought after.
If it is your goal to collect dolls for the love of them or for profit you need to educate yourself. There is nothing more disheartening than to find out the antique doll you paid your hard earned money for is an inferior reproduction. So arm yourself with knowledge. There are several books that can get you started in the right direction. Some of them are listed here.
When you have found a doll that you want to buy please be sure to look it over carefully. Are there any hairline cracks, paint rubbed off, cracked leather, chips, torn clothing? Of course, if you are buying a doll online you will not be able to do this so don't be afraid to ask questions and if necessary, ask for clear pictures. Some sellers may assume that buyers expect antique dolls to have some damage because of the age of the doll. They may not mention flaws they think are minor. A doll with minor damage may still be valuable but knowing what you are getting will help you decide if the price is reasonable.
Denise Van Patten, Guide to Doll Collecting at About.com, says: "For German bisque dolls, as with all antique dolls, remember that quality varies widely even within one manufacturer's products--dolls with finely detailed features (such as feathered brows and individual upper and lower eyelashes) and pale bisque are always preferred over dolls with single-stroke or other simplified features and darkly tinted bisque. Also, today's collectors prefer closed-mouth bisque dolls, since fewer of them were produced than open-mouth dolls. Common German bisque dolls of average quality which are unmarked or from Armand Marseille can be found for as little as $200 or $300, with prices for sought-after German characters soaring into the thousands".
