1½ col marquee

Doll researchers believe only 100 models of this sculpted young girl by French artist Albert Marque were made. This doll achieved $175,000 despite a line flaw on her throat.

1½ col Thullier

A French doll from Thullier, circa 1884, this 13-inch doll with sculpted bisque hands soared to $100,000.

2col French

California collector Geri Baker had acquired the French Huret poupée, named Bondinette by her 1860 child owner, at Theriault’s in 1994. She doubled her value, selling now for $31,000. Accompanying Huret-made furniture brought $10,000.

1col marie

A hand-sculpted French wooden lady doll representing Marie Antoinette attained $39,000.

2c Jumeau

Jumeau bébés are highly sought after but rarely found with original costumes unlike this trio, which brought, from left, $22,000, $13,500 and $43,000.

FOR 2/8

GERI BAKER DOLL COLLECTION PERFORMS SOLIDLY AT THERIAULT’S w/5 cuts

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NEWPORT BEACH, CALIF. — “I held history in my hands” was the way California doll collector Geri Baker described her feelings whenever she had acquired a cherished antique doll. On January 5, she passed those pieces of history into the hands of other collectors in a doll auction that drew hundreds of collectors from around the world.

The top lot was a rare doll by Albert Marque that sold for $175,000, while a 24-inch bébé by French doll maker Halopeau, gracing the catalog cover, went for $125,000 ($40/50,000).

Many of the dolls in the Baker collection had been acquired from Theriault auctions during the 1980s and 1990s. Important among these was Blondinette, a 17-inch French poupée by Adelaide Huret that had come directly from her original chateau in Rouen, France, where she had been stored for nearly a century and a half. The doll and many pieces of her extensive trousseau were won by Baker in its original 1994 auction, and it now became the mission of a young dedicated Chicago collector to win the doll and as many pieces of her trousseau as possible, “to keep this treasure intact” as she described it.

As fellow collectors cheered her on (“when,” as Theriault’s president Stuart Holbrook teased, “they weren’t bidding on the pieces they themselves wanted”) she went on to win most of the important pieces.

Blondinette sold for $31,000, nearly doubling her 1994 selling price, and one gown, preserved in its original couturier box, soared to $19,500, ten times its presale estimate, setting a world auction record for a doll costume. Blondinette’s fruitwood and bronze secretaire reached $9,250, and her gilded cast iron salon table and chair went to $10,000.

A small velvet evening purse, with gilt metallic belt reached $2,600, and the doll-sized riding crop with carved basset hound figural head brought $1,700; the crop accompanied a black cashmere riding ensemble that sold for $4,400.

Leading French dolls include the first lot of the day, an 11-inch premiere bébé by Jumeau in original couturier costume that sold for $13,500, a 13-inch blue-eyed beauty by Thuillier, soared to $100,000, tripling its presale estimate.

Three other bébés by Thuillier, each marked A.T., were also strong: an 18-inch kid-bodied model sold for $82,000; a 26-inch composition bodied example went to $72,000; and a 16-inch kid-bodied A.T. with signed A.T. shoes topped at $57,500, all well above estimate.

Bébés by Leon Casimir Bru ranged from a classic era model in rare 35-inch size 13 at $40,000, to a tiny 11-inch first period Bru bébé for $17,000. A larger first period Bru, 21-inch, fetched $27,000, and a classic 13-inch size 2 bébé Bru took $24,000.

Bébés by French maker Emile Jumeau were eagerly sought, ranging from a 24-inch bébé Triste in original couturier costume that sold for $43,000, double its selling price since first acquired by Baker from a Theriault auction during the late 1990s, to the largest and the smallest Jumeau bébés: the largest-made size 20 sold for $23,000, and the smallest, size 1, was $12,500.

For information, 800-638-0422 or www.theriaults.com.