Doll with bisque head and leather jointed body

Doll with bisque head and leather jointed body – made by Armand Marseille. Brown wig that may be real hair, blue sleep eyes, open mouth showing teeth. Arms have been repaired as per Museum card, leather body may have been repaired or replaced by Chris Nancarrow, Conservator of BC Provincial Museum (Retired). Damaged noted to fingers on both hands, hands may be made from composition. Comes with doll stand. Doll dressed in a white dress with blue sash. Made by Mrs Ann Mandich, and accessioned under 1987.25.
Armand Marseille was a popular doll manufacturer in the late 1880’s and early 1900s. They created their famous doll molds over a span of over 30 years. Although they are known for some fine character dolls and some lovely lady dolls, the great majority of their products were round-faced child dolls, babies, and toddlers. At the height of their production, they produced over 1,000 doll heads per day. While the German company did make all the doll heads, the bodies were brought from other manufacturers and added to the Marseille head molds. Armand Marseille dolls were produced from roughly 1885 until approximately 1930 .Doll bodies were generally made of composition, a mixture of sawdust and glue, or stuffed kid leather with bisque arms.