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Popularly known as one of the best makers of bisque head dolls, the Armand Marseille Company was manufacturing from 1885 to 1950 in Thuringia, Germany. The brainchild of the company was Herman, the son of an architect and born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1856. His family immigrated to Germany after 1860. Herman then bought the Mathias Lambert toy company in 1884 and later acquired the Liebermann & Factory. Wegescher porcelain in Koppelsdorf in the year 1885.
According to historical figures, the company had made about 1,000 bisque doll heads a day from the early 1900s to the 1930s. They made dolls for babies, children, characters, and ladies with painted or glass eyes. The company also used other materials for the bodies, such as composition and cloth bodies. However, the doll bodies they have used for their products were produced by other doll makers, but were still of good quality.
For those who want to get a reference of the dolls produced by Armand Marseille, these are just some of the dolls that were popularly released:
1) Floradora (1894) – The doll is marked “Made in Germany/AM/Armand Marseille” with the mold number 370. The doll was 19-20 inches tall, had a cloth body with a pair of eyes of glass and a slightly open mouth.
2) Beauty, Jubilee, Queen Louise, Majestic, and Princess (1894) – These are just a few of the names used for dolls that had bisque shoulder head composition bodies. The markings on the dolls were “AM/DEP/Made in Germany” with their mold numbers.
3) Baby Betty/Character Baby – The doll was usually marked “Germany AM DGRM or DRMR with the mold number 231 next to it. The bisque-headed doll had glass eyes, painted eyelashes, wig, and bent baby body and articulate.
4) Baby Phyllis – This doll had a cloth body, a bisque head on the shoulders, and the lower arms were partially compositional. Other character baby dolls were named Ellar, Melitta, and Baby Gloria. These dolls would have straight legs or bent baby limbs.
5) Googly Eye (1920): This doll with a bisque head and a pair of round eyes that looked to the side and stood 12 inches tall. Doll mold numbers are 200, 210, 240, 241, 253, and 323.
6) Just Me (1925) – The doll had sleepy eyes and painted eyelashes. She stands from 7.5 to 13 inches tall and has mold numbers 310 and 318. For the avid Vogue doll collectors, yes, these dolls were also sold by the Vogue Doll Company.