Morphy's May 17-18 Doll & Miniatures debut auction stars Yvonne Baird, Virginia Gordon collections A rare and superb 24-inch Halopeau "H" bébé is expected to fetch $50,000-$70,000 in Morphy's May 17-18 Doll & Miniatures auction premiere. Sale features prestigious private collections.
News-Antique.com - Mar 12,2008 - DENVER, Pa. – Morphy Auctions’ recently launched Doll department, headed by specialists and co-directors Becky and Andy Ourant, will present its premiere 1,200-lot auction on Saturday and Sunday, May 17-18 at the Morphy Auctions Gallery in Denver (Adamstown), Pa. The high-end, three-session event features exquisite antique dolls and dollhouses, as well as candy containers, artists’ dolls and teddy bears; paper dolls and an extensive array of fine Schneegas, Walterhausen, silver, ormolu and other dollhouse miniatures.
“We’re delighted and very proud to be able to launch our department with such great quantity and quality,” said Becky Ourant. “It’s a very well-rounded selection, with something for everyone.”
The sale will open with 340 lots of antique dolls from the personal collection of Yvonne Baird, including such prestigious makers as Jumeau, Bru, Gaultier and Simon & Halbig. Coveted cloth dolls by Kathe Kruse and Chase comprise another of the sale’s featured categories. Chase characters include a 40-inch “Chester” doll with a steamer trunk full of clothes and provenance from the Atlanta Toy Museum, a Mammy and a very rare George Washington in its original box.
Yvonne Baird’s personal doll collection, which is featured exclusively in the first of two consecutive sessions on Saturday, also includes French fashion dolls, china dolls with many different hairdos, a bisque bathing beauty collection, Schoenhut dolls, teddy bears and an Effanbee doll designed by Dewees Cochran (with hang tag) that originally belonged to Gloria Vanderbilt.
“Yvonne is a very well known dealer and collector who has always had an eye for originality and dolls that have a special quality,” said Becky. “She wisely bought early Simon & Halbigs with molded hair, and they’re sure to be popular with bidders in this sale. You just don’t see this many in one sale. Yvonne also owned Simon & Halbig twill-bodied fashion dolls. They’re so hard to find, but she had several, including a Peddler and a Nun. And then there are the early portrait Jumeaus – Yvonne’s collection includes a rare size 4, which has the earliest mark on it. It’s a very important doll and could bring $30,000 or more.”
Many exceptional, all-original Schoenhuts will be auctioned. There are molded-hair girls and boys, and pouty faced dolls with wigs, many in their original clothing and shoes. Additionally, there are three early Steiff teddies.
Among the dollhouses in Yvonne Baird’s collection is an English circa-1880 St. Elmo model, formerly in the famed Dina Vierny collection that was sold in 1996 at Sotheby’s London. The 25-inch-tall by 24-inch-long by 19-inch-deep dollhouse features a beige painted façade with double-story bay windows, metal downspouts and a paneled front door with transom. The roof is of hand-carved shingles and accommodates two chimney stacks. Each side of the house opens to reveal an interior of four rooms with original wallpapers and paint decoration. The outside is just as tidy as the inside. It has a nicely detailed, fenced, green-painted garden, and a faux-painted tiled walkway. The dollhouse carries a presale estimate of $2,000-$3,000.
