Nelling, Inc.
C l o t h D o l l s
(Click on photos to enlarge)
 |
French Leather Children! |
 |
From the Sherryl Shirran Collection |
 |
|
What rare and special trio do we have here? From the Sherryl Shirran collection, come three mint examples of the elusive French leather babies! Considered a collector's treasure and being so hard to come by, not much is known or written about who created them in early 1920's France. They are entirely made of leather, with the heads pressed from a mold that varies from doll to doll, showing us examples that we can attribute to different artists after becoming familiar with the few various looks. The features and molded hair are expertly and artfully painted to represent adorable babies and young children. The bodies are tightly stuffed leather with stitched detailed hands and feet, that are jointed at the shoulders and hips to allow for sitting, standing, sleeping or playing, with the babies having bent limbs and the even rarer toddler in a straight-limbed position. |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
 |
 |
French Leather Toddler |
 |
Extra Rare! |
 |
 |
At 6 1/2”, the even rarer leather toddler has blond, deeply molded hair, icy blue painted eyes, peachy colored lips and cheeks, and the differentiating straight arms and legs that represent a toddler or older child. He wears his original, two piece wool playsuit with a lace net covered top and two front buttons. He is wearing no shoes. $4,650. |
 |
s s s
 |
 |
Kathe Kruse Doll I $3,750. |
 |
 |
 |
Out of the Sherryl Shirran collection, this delightful 17" Kathe Kruse doll I was previously owned by the promoter and educator of antique dolls, Jim Fernando. Representing a girl, she has her original finish with soft brown painted hair and eyes, an even, smooth complexion and the early, wide-hip, stuffed cloth body, jointed at the shoulders and hips. Her dress and sweater are original, as are her shoes and socks, with the cream socks with red borders being quite frail. |
. |
 |
 |
The body is super clean with just some minor soiling or discoloration where the hands and legs were exposed to the elements. There is a spot on the left leg and some running of color below the back edge of the hair. Underneath her foot are the stamped number and the written Kathe Kruse signature. Most likely the cotton seaside cap is an antique replacement that has protected her well-preserved head. |
 |
 |
s s s
 |
Poupee Fabrette Cloth Lady in Purple $950. |
 |
Poupee Fabrette Cloth Lady in Brown $950. |
 |
 |
These two ladies came to us recently as sort of a mystery. Of course their similarity to side-glancing French boudoir dolls or Italian lady dolls was clear, however the nature of their model stance, life-like poses and intricate costume details kept us hunting for more information. Then, while dealing with completely separate doll collection, what surfaced but one more of these sultry ladies. To have never seen one before, then to fall upon three of them from two unrelated sources was intriguing. Finally, we unearthed a past auction lot that featured ten of these figures in one lot that brought an astounding $19,500.00 years ago. And in that lot are three familiar faces, as the sold lot was probably broken up and the dolls sold individually, with three of them now being in our possession. |
 |
| This posting is for the two you see pictured here, roughly 14 1/2” and 16” tall, both having softly stuffed stockinette faces and bodies, with painted, molded facial features and decoration depicting ladies of the pre-World War I era, but wearing costumes from much earlier fashion silhouettes. |
 |
 |
They are called “Poupees Fabrette” and the lady in browns and blues wears a smart outfit from the 1880's, stands on a wooden pedestal and her wire armature holds a matching muff with her costume. The other lady in lavender depicts a high fashion female of the 1860's wearing an elaborate, two piece silk suit with metallic trim, a ruched chiffon over-skirt and dramatic drop sleeves on her button up, fitted jacket. Both of them have feather adorned chapeaux over their tightly curled locks of hair. The fabric of both dresses have weak spots that are melting, but both dolls display very nicely. They are priced separately however a price for both is negotiable. |
 |
 |
s s s
 |
Lenci Sport Series 17" (Doll) |
 |
Polo Player $2,500. |
 |
|
From the ever-popular and desirable Sports Series, we have a well-suited Lenci Polo player with the 300 model face. Dating from 1930, he has light brown, side-glancing eyes on a molded felt pouty face with pronounced cheeks in an almost a downward pose. He has sandy blond mohair inset locks, molded and applied ears and a slightly olive complexion with a head that subtly swivels. His chubby child-like body is jointd at the shoulders and hips and is very clean along with the head, with just very minor signs of the almost 100 years that have passed since he was made. Just some occasional, faint, faint smudges seen around the face, and the costume has some soil discoloration on the pants or breeches. |
 |
 |
His polo outfit scores First Place with the vivid red felt polo jacket, cream felt riding breeches with saddle area reinforcements, a cream felt knotted tie stuffed into the lapels of the jacket, a black felt riding hat and his original wooden polo stick with braited leather handle. Last but not least are the serious, black leather, knee-high riding boots of high detail and quality, onto which are mounted authentic metal spurs. |
 |
 |
s s s
 |
Black Cloth Doll 13 1/2" |
 |
Early 1900's $675. |
 |
 |
 |
Dating from the early 1900's, this black cloth doll in her colorful outfit is quite charming! She has a face with features created by strategic stitching that creates a protruding nose, and her eyes, brows and mouth are created with embroidered thread. She even has some white stiching between the red lips and giving her a dot of light in each eye! |
 |
 |
|
Her hair is a tightly crimped black yarn which is covered with a red and white polka dot bandana that picks up the vibrant color in her multi-colored print cotton dress. Over that is a white, heavy cotton apron where a swatch of her dress fabric is tucked neatly into a left side pocket. Her body is of black cotton cloth. For added details, she has a jade green cotton underslip, worn black leatherette slippers and even beaded glass pierced earrings! |
s s s
 |
 |
Lenci Mascotte in Original Box $450. |
 |
 |
 |
Resting in her original, labeled factory box, is this spunky Lenci Mascotte girl (9"), dressed in her original “sweeper” outfit, holding her straw broom with wooden handle. She has light blue, side glancing painted eyes, long blond hair with a top bun and a slightly olive complexion. |
 |
 |
Her costume is an orange-red and crème checkered felt dress with crème fabric apron, crème socks and orange-red felt shoes. The red color has faded somewhat but there are no mothholes visible. The box is is good condition, with wear at the corners of the lid. Cara Bambina! LW |
 |
s s s
 |
 |
Lenci Mascotte Lady with Tag $245. |
 |
 |
 |
Wearing a colorful, original regional outfit, here is a Lenci Mascotte girl (10" overall) that, by her pale coloring and light blond hair with side buns, looks to depict someone from a very northern Italian area. Here green and purple felt outfit with silver factory tag, does have some moth holes that can be seen in the photo. The tall, matching felt hat takes her to an overall 10 inches. Over the skirt is a netted apron with applied felt flowers and the silver metal buttons are all there except the missing one at the neckline. Bella! LW |
 |
s s s
 |
 |
Lenci Sport Series - Rower $1,750. |
 |
 |
 |
From the rare and sought-after Lenci sports series comes this handsome guy (17"), the Lenci Rower (missing his wooden oar) who dates from 1930 Italy. His face is pressed and painted felt with the side-glancing shyness of the 300 series, with brown painted eyes and soft blond mohair on his swivel head. Also of felt is his chubby, stuffed toddler body, jointed at the shoulders and hips, as well as his rowing costume of cream with bold black stripes repeated on the shirt and cap. He is the proud winner of a blue ribbon from a past doll competition. Just a bit of soil is on his face, with a small area of wear over his right eyebrow. |
 |
Post Office Box 4327 n Burbank, CA 91503
Cell (818) 738-4591 n Home Phone (818) 562-7839
Don't forget to look at the Miscellaneous page!