Handwerck Halbig "160" Character Doll, ca. 1910
Appraised Value:
$4,000 - $5,000
IMAGE: 1 of 2
Appraisal Video: (2:18)
Appraisal Transcript:
GUEST: She was my great- grandmother's doll, um, and then it was given to my grandmother and I inherited it. I always liked it when I was little, and it sat in a china cabinet, but she never let me play with it.
APPRAISER: What else do you know about her?
GUEST: Um, that she's a Simon Halbig character doll. I looked in several books, but I can't find any information about her about that mold number, so, yeah...
APPRAISER: Okay, and where was your grandmother from?
GUEST: Um, she was born in Houghton, Michigan, and that's where the doll would have been purchased.
APPRAISER: We had a couple of questions from you earlier about her hands.
GUEST: Yes. Are these original hands? Do you know?
APPRAISER: Yeah.
GUEST: And what are they made of?
APPRAISER: Uh, it's composition. Her body's actually wood and composition.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: Somebody, at some point in time, has done some repaint on them. Now, that can be taken off carefully if you know what you're doing. But I wouldn't want you to do it. It would be professionally done. It's got a beautiful face, a great mouth, great eyes. And it is a Simon Halbig doll.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: And it's also a Handwerck doll. If I spin her around and I take her hair off, on the back, you see Heinrich Handwerck, Simon Halbig and then 160; 160 is her mold number for her face. The Heinrich Handwerck, they made the body.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: And there'll be a mark on her body saying Heinrich Handwerck. The head is made by Simon Halbig.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: It's from their character doll series. Made probably around 1910. Now, I've sold thousands and thousands of dolls over the years since I was a little kid. I've only ever once seen a 160 before.
GUEST: Oh, wow.
APPRAISER: So, she's a little bit unusual.
GUEST: Yeah.
APPRAISER: I would say your doll, size, quality is probably, in a good doll show, probably $4,000, $5,000.
GUEST: Oh, wow. I had no idea.
APPRAISER: So you inherited a really, really nice doll.
GUEST: Thank you very much.
APPRAISER: Put her hair back on.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Spin her around.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: A little disheveled there. The wig may be a replacement from the 1930s. The dress is probably a child's dress, a baby dress also from that same era. If you found a period outfit, it would probably add another couple hundred dollars to her value.
GUEST: Oh, okay, I see.
