The Revalo Dolls Of Sonneberg Germany

The trademark “Revalo” came from the surname of one of the owners.  The doll company was established in either 1897 or 1912 on some doll reference materials.  It was founded by the brothers Hinrick and Jonny Paulas Gerhard Ohlhaver.  The company’s name was the phonetically reversed spelling of their surname.  Around 1913, the company started selling jointed dolls and they sourced their doll heads from porcelain factories like Gebruder Heubach, Ernst Heubach, and Porzellanfabrik Mengersgereuth.  Pozellanfabrik was also known for its dolls marked with an X inside a circle.

Some Revalo dolls also have a mark “Igodi” which signified the patent for Johann Gottlieb Dierich’s swivel head dolls.  The known mold numbers used on these dolls were: 150, 151, 10727, and 11010.

Here are some of Revalo dolls’ markings:

1)      Revalo (size number) (DEP)

2)      Revalo (DEP)

3)      Mold Number (Germany)

4)      Germany (Revalo)

5)      Revalo (Germany)

6)      A pyramid with an eye icon at the base (Germany) (Mold Number)

The company sold several doll types like the Bebe Princess, Dolly Face, Character Babies, and Character Child dolls.  These measured from 8 to 28 inches tall with jointed composition bodies.  Although the Ohlhaver brothers were late entrants to the doll manufacturing business, the Revalo company was reported to have the largest factory in Sonneberg in 1925.  Revalo had been manufacturing 6,000 dolls per week with most of its production focused on crafting doll bodies, clothes, and wigs.  The bisque heads were still ordered from major porcelain factories.

They marketed the distinguishable thinner and longer faced girl dolls and they advertised these as the “Queen of Dolls”.  Collectors of Revalo dolls would usually go for these types as these are structured differently than the other dolly face dolls of other doll companies.  The dolls usually had open or closed mouth, some with teeth showing from its slightly smiling mouth, human or mohair wig, some may have painted molded hair, glass sleep eyes with hair upper lashes and painted lower ones.  

Owning a Revalo doll could really be a good addition to your collection or perhaps an heirloom to the next generation.  There is always a piece of history kept intact through these highly collectible elegant dolls.  Collecting vintage dolls is not purely for investment but also a way of keeping a part of history alive through these dolls design and elegant period clothing.  Anyone who might be interested in starting a collection of Revalo dolls, online auctions are a good way to easily start acquiring rare and great pieces.  However before you purchase one, it is recommended to familiarize yourself with the prices and the markings to verify the doll’s authenticity.

The Fabulous French H-Dolls Of Aristide Halopeau

Aristide Marcelling Halopeau was the famous maker of the exquisite dolls with the H mold.  These are considered as the rarest and exceptional dolls by most collectors since he only made dolls up until 1889.  Halopeau started his doll company when he bought Eugene Barrois doll manufacturing business in 1875.  The first H mold Bebe doll was only introduced in the year 1882.  The Halopeau dolls were of the highest quality and the dolls’ heads and bodies were made from the finest materials.  For doll collectors, a Halopeau bebe doll is considered the finest and one of the most expensive.  So for collectors who might want to acquire an H doll, you will need a good amount of money to purchase one.  

The H-dolls were known for its markings on the head.  The H block letter is impressed on its head after the doll’s size number.  Here are the common sizes for Halopeau’s dolls:

1)      16 inches – Size 0

2)      18 inches – Size 1

3)      20 inches – Size 2

4)      22 inches – Size 3

5)      24 inches – Size 4

6)      27 inches – Size 5

What made the dolls unique is that these were pressed and not poured porcelain.  It was only after 1890 that doll makers started to use the technique of pouring the porcelain into doll molds.  The dolls bodies and heads were made of fine quality bisque although some dolls were also made of wood.  Most of the H-dolls were Jumeau jointed composition body, had straight paperweight sleep eyes with black and red dots on the corner of the eyes.  

The paperweight eyes also look delicate and beautiful which tells you that the H-dolls were made with much attention to details.  The upper sections of the doll’s eyebrows were painted with lighter feathery shade than the inner section.  The dolls lower and upper lashes were also painted.  The dolls could also have either human or mohair wig while the lips are closed and outlined lightly with a darker shade of color.  The cheeks were blushed aptly and a light blush was also added on the doll’s chin.

Another distinguishable characteristic of an H-doll is paint on the dolls’ nostrils.  The same paint used on the lips was also applied on the nostrils of some dolls.  Some dolls’ ears were also pierced yet one thing was for sure, all dolls wore elegant period dresses and accessories.  Starting a collection of H-dolls is one of the most expensive hobbies that you one can start.  It may take you time to look for an H-doll due to its rarity.  Just to give you an idea of how much an H bebe doll will cost, take the case of the 24-inch tall blonde Halopeau bebe that got sold at Morphy Auctions for $109,250 on May 17, 2008.

The Father Of German Porcelain Doll Making

Johann Gotthelf Greiner was a German glassmaker who was born on February 22, 1732 in Scheibe-Alsbach Thuringia.  He came from a family of well-known glassmakers and was the descendant of Hand Greiner of Thuringen, Germany who was the first to build a glass factory in Limbach.  Gotthelf started making glass figurines at the age of 12 and when he turned 18, he managed the glass factory.

His career from glassmaking to doll-making took a turn in 1761 when he worked with Gottfried Greiner and Georg Dummler.  They began producing hard paste porcelain which had a different chemical composition with the other porcelain mixture known at that time.  They then turned the glass factory into a doll making venture.  Greiner’s creations were widely accepted by the people and other doll manufacturers during that era.  They manufactured doll and doll parts which they supply to other doll manufacturers.

Greiner also managed and leased other porcelain factories in Germany.  They had manufactured several dolls and accepted orders from major doll companies of their era.  The production of these porcelain dolls dated from 1850 to around the 1930’s. 

Some of the factories Greiner was associated with were:

1)      Limbach Porcelain Manufacture (1751)

2)      Sitzendorf Volkstedt Porzellanfabrik (1760)

3)      Wallendorf Porzellanfabrik (1764)

4)      Limbach Porzellanfabrik (1772)

5)      Gera Porzellanfabrik (1779)

6)      Grossbreitenbach Porzellanfabrik (1783 )

7)      Rauenstein Porzellanfabrik (1783)

8)      IImenau Porzellanfabrik (1786-1796, rented)

9)      Tettau Porzellanfabrik (1794)

10)   Kloster Veilsdorf Porzellanfabrik (1797)

The company was known for its Child, Dolly Face, and Character dolls.  One of their famous creations was the Penny Doll which had a bisque doll head on composition kid body.  The company also created several other dolls and figurines with different materials such as the small doll house dolls, mechanical toys with pull string, small doll houses dolls, and bathing dolls.  Some of the dolls with the Limbach mold had the mold number 8660 with a clover leaf symbol under it.  

Most of the dolls created by Greiner had painted eyes, bisque heads, and marked with the mold number and the three-leaf clover.  Some of the mold numbers created by the company are 1772, 8552, 8553, 8660, 8661, 8679, 8682, 8822, 8833, 8857, 8867, and 8887.  There were also several doll series introduced by the company and some of the well known doll names were Norma, Rita, and Sally.  Due to the contribution of Greiner to the porcelain doll making, he was then later known as the Father of Thurginian Porcelain.