Dear Helaine and Joe: This doll was found in my mother's attic after she died. It has a bisque head, glass eyes, a kid body and is 13 inches tall. We had new clothes made for it. I have been told it is an "Empress Eugenie" doll and worth $375 to $750. Is that correct? Thank you. — A.B., Muscatine, Iowa
Dear A.B.: Collectors usually refer to this sort of doll as being a "Parian-type" doll, which means that its head and shoulders were made from untinted bisque porcelain. This term "Parian" can be a bit confusing because it primarily refers to Parian marble, which is a very pure white stone quarried on the island of Paros.
This type of rock often is associated with the classical Greek statuary of antiquity, but, of course, A.B.'s doll is not made from this legendary material. Instead, the designation "Parian" is given also to a type of pure white porcelain with a grainy surface that was developed in the Staffordshire district of England around 1844 by the firm of Copeland and Garrett.
At that time, it was called "statuary porcelain" and was designed to be used to make small statues that could be afforded by people of relatively modest means. Starting in the 1850s or '60s (there is some disagreement as to exactly when), dollmakers in Germany began using this porcelain to make dolls' heads, hands and feet.
Some earlier texts on dolls insist that the proper name for this kind of item is "Dresden doll" because in many instances, the parts were thought to have been made in that city. However, this terminology has almost disappeared from use in recent years, and most modern collectors would not be certain what a "Dresden doll" actually is.
The average Parian-type doll has painted eyes, a cloth body and molded blond hair. Dark-headed specimens are considered to be rare. Better examples have glass eyes, a kid body, and may have elaborately molded hair that might be further embellished with ribbons, combs, hats, applied flowers, snoods and so on. Also, they may have pierced ears, molded-on necklaces and molded-on blouses.
Parian-type dolls often are known by names such as "Countess Dagmar," "Augusta Victoria," "Irish Queen" and "Empress Eugenie." Many of these named dolls are identified by their hairdo, and the ones known as "Empress Eugenie" have a blond "chignon" or "waterfall" coiffeur, which means that the hair is held in a net so that the back looks like a smooth cascade. This description does not fit the doll in today's question.
A.M.'s Parian-type doll, with its glass eyes, kid body, elaborately braided blond hair and pierced ears, is an above-average example. Its 13-inch size is fairly typical, but we think it is an early piece and would date it circa 1860.
The new clothes on this doll are a deduction, but still, the insurance replacement value is between $1,000 and $1,250.
Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of Treasures in Your Attic (HarperCollins, $18). Questions can be mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.