J.D. Kestner Baby Doll, ca. 1910
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GUEST:
This has just been a doll that's been in my family as long as I can remember. It was something I saw as a kid growing up, and the story that I learned later was that my great-grandmother, when she emigrated over from England, she came to the U.S. and they moved to L.A., and she worked for the Salvation Army. So that was probably in the early 1920s, and that's where she picked up the doll. And it's just been around ever since.
APPRAISER:
Do you know anything else about her?
GUEST:
It's always been in a case that my grandfather made for me, and my mom used to look at it, play with it, and that's it. It's just got beautiful clothes, and its eyes open and close, and never even looked anything up about it.
APPRAISER:
This doll is from Germany. It's made by a maker called John D. Kestner, made about 1910.
GUEST:
Wow.
APPRAISER:
It's an Asian doll or Oriental. It's a bisque head and a composition body. It's a baby doll. It's a five-piece baby body, and the arms are bent, and the legs are bent also. It's also marked on the back of the head, "Made in Germany," and the mold number is 243. And also it's marked "J.D.K," for John D. Kestner. Probably maybe five percent of what they made were Asian dolls. And also, Kestner was a pretty prolific maker, and he did such a good job on making the mold and the faces and the coloring and everything. His dolls are more sought after than other dolls.
GUEST:
Oh, wow.
APPRAISER:
If this doll was at auction, it would bring between $3,200 and $3,500.
GUEST:
Wow! (chuckles) That's incredible.
APPRAISER:
Very nice example of the doll.
GUEST:
Wonderful, I never would have imagined.
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