Hey everyone! We had an impressive show at our last Toy and Comic auction, and it got me thinking: Why do people like bisque head dolls? Although all the bisque dolls were well received, the Jumeau dolls really took the cake! Jumeau Bebe dolls are well known for their beautifully sculpted faces and ornate outfits modelled after the fashion trends during the turn of the century. Originally, the Jumeau dolls were made of paper mache until about 1860 when founder Pierre-François Jumeau opened his own porcelain factory. Jumeau’s dolls had won awards and had attention put on them, but the awards were mostly associated with the clothing. It wasn’t until the late 1870’s when Emile Jumeau, Francois’s son, began to model the faces after little girls that the dolls began to receive awards for their sculpting.  One such award that these dolls were able to receive was the Medaille d’Or, an award that would appear as a blue or red mark on the doll’s composite bodies. The two that were featured in our most recent Toy & Comic auction featured blue Medaille d’Or marks on their bodies, meaning that the dolls retained their original composite parts were not restored with newer composite bodies. As for the clothing, it is easy to see why they were highly praised. The dolls were dressed in ornate lace trims, gathers, bonnets, and delicate fabrics complete with stockings, underskirts, chemises, and fine shoes. The clothing arguably outshines the dolls just for their sheer quality. However, the sculpting of these dolls are undeniably just as detailed as the dresses. The bisque heads are crafted first with ears being formed separate from the head and then pierced to add earrings. Glass eyes and cork head caps are added later, with some head caps featuring human hair. Like most dolls, even if it is a little unfair, blue eyes tend to be more favorable than brown, but even so the Jumeau dolls’ eyes ranged in various shades of each color. The most favorable eyes regardless of color are the wrap around eyes found on early luxury models of the dolls. Like the eyes, dolls with a closed mouth are more desirable than ones with open mouths. Even more desirable are the dolls with stamped “Jumeau” cartouches to the back of their heads that were used for about a year or two of the doll’s production. However, the golden age of Jumeau doll manufacturing was short lived and the company began to have competition when the German’s began production of their own bisque dolls in the 1890’s. Regardless of this, Jumeau dolls are still highly valued for their craftsmanship and for good reason, so next time you’re out and about, see if you can find one of these great early bisque dolls.