FRENCH FASHION DOLLS: French Fashion type dolls, also known as "Poupees" were manufactured between 1860 and 1930 by France, Germany and Austria. Collectors often use the term "French Fashion" or "Fashion Doll" to describe this type of doll made with formed cloth, kid, or wooden bodies. The dolls are models of ladies, not children, dressed in very fashionable clothing. The "Poupee" at it's best, exemplifies the beauty and splendor of Paris beauty and fashion. French Fashion type dolls have very good quality pale bisque, quality paperweight or finely detailed painted eyes,and nicely painted eyebrows, closed mouth, cork pate's and pierced ears. The bisque shoulderhead on the French Fashion may be stationary or fixed or swivel on a shoulderplate. Normal wear, slight damage, or well-made repairs to the body do not greatly affect the price. It is perfectly acceptable to show a missing or repaired finger or joint, or a mended body. Full price should not be paid if there is damage to the bisque head. See Glossary for additional information about Bisque Heads. Fancy original clothing, bisque hands, jointed and/or wooden bodies make the French Fashion doll more valuable. GAULTIER, FRANCOIS: Francois Gaultier along with Jumeau, Bru, and Steiner was a manufacturer of exquisite bisque French dolls. The Paris company headed by Francois Gaultier manufactured poupees or French Fashion dolls between 1860 and 1899, after which time the company became part of S.F.B.J. located near Paris. The company made bisque heads and parts for lady dolls and bebes and sold those parts to many French makers of dolls including Gresland, Jullien, Rabery & Delphieu and Thiller. The Francois Gaultier Bebe (child) is more difficult to find that a Poupee de Modes (fashion doll). Both their fashion type dolls and french bebes (child) dolls are marked "F.G." The earlier French Bebe (child) dolls (1879 - 1887) are marked with F.G. in block letters. Later French Bebes (1887-1900) have the "F.G." enclosed within two scroll marks. The bebes are found on composition bodies. JUMEAU: Pierre Francois Jumeau began manufacturing "Poupee" dolls in Paris about 1842 while in partnership with Belton. Pierre intended to have his oldest son, George, take over the business for him but George died at an early age and Pierre's youngest son Emile Jumeau took over the responsiblities in 1877-1878. Emile studied to become an architect but when he took over his father's firm he vowed to make France the leader in the doll industry and he did just that. The Jumeau French Bebes (child dolls) are among the most beautiful in the world! There is considerable variation in the head markings of Jumeau Bebes. The most commonly found mark is the "Tete Jumeau" stamp and a red artist check mark. Earlier Jumeau Bebes can be found marked "E.J." with a size number. The rarer, long-faced Jumeau (seen on my Welcome page) are marked with a size number only. The Triste Jumeau was designed by Carrier Belleuse, a French scuptor. It is referred to as "triste" bcause of the doll's sad, solemn, pensive expression. Many Jumeau dolls are also unmarked as the Jumeau factory often made dolls on special order for department stores and also sold lesser-quality dolls as "seconds" to department stores. Some unmarked Jumeau dolls are found that are of better quality than marked Jumeau dolls, so that fact should not be used as the only standard by which to judge the quality of one doll against another. When attempting to data a French Bebe, keep in mind that bisque doll heads made prior to 1890 were pressed into molds; after 1890 liquid slip was poured to make the bisque heads. Jumeau Bebes come with open or closed mouths, with the closed mouth versions being more valuable. This is the exact opposite of the 1800's, when the open mouth dolls were more expensive to purchase. Other special types of Jumeau dolls that were produced include the "ED Bebe", the Paris Bebe" , the "Bebe Francais, or S.F.B.J. dolls such as molds 221,230 and 301. Jumeau also manufactured character dolls. STEINER: Jules Nicholas Steiner founded his doll company in 1855 in Paris. He was succeeded in the company by various persons finally ending with Edmond Daspres in 1908. Many Steiner dolls are marked "Bourgoin". Bourgoin was a Paris merchant and associate of Jules Steiner during the 1880's. Sometime after 1897, the Steiner company purchased May Freres Cie, the company who made the Bebe Mascotte. Steiner dolls are very high quality dolls. His company tried many novel approaches with dolls and applied for many patents for mechaniques such as lever eyes and kicking legs. There is evidence that the Steiner company manufactured pressed doll heads much longer than other french companies who had started pouring bisque for manufacturing dolls heads. The Steiner pate is generally cardboard that is purple in color, rather than being cork like the jumeau bebes. An original Steiner body also has a purple undercoat which may be seen near the joints were there is wear. This is due to the fact they the Steiner factory used newspaper print in their composition body formula. THere is also great variety in markings among the Steiner dolls. Some of the markings include: FI, Fire or Figure; Bte;Ste; SUCCe; S.G.D.G. All the markings usually include a size number and one of 4 letters such as "A", "B", "C", or "D", with "A" being the most common found. The Steiner bisque heads often have an incised as well as a stamped mark.