Friday at Auction Finds is readers’ questions day. I try to guide readers to resources to help them determine the value of their items. I’m not able to appraise their treasures, but I can do some preliminary research to get them started. So, these are market values based on prices I find on the web, not appraisal for insurance purposes that I suggest for items that have been determined to be of great value.
Today’s questions are about where to find a doll that resembles the little African American girl from the Norman Rockwell painting and the identity of a black doll.
Question:
I am trying to find the Ruby Bridges doll that was made by Madame Alexander to buy as a gift for my mother.
Answer:
This was a new one for me. I had not heard of a Ruby Bridges doll, though I knew who Bridges was. She was the impetus for a painting by Norman Rockwell showing a black girl striding between two white federal marshals to a classroom in a white elementary school during the 1960s. An illustration of this most famous painting – titled “The Problem We Live With” – was published in Look magazine on Jan. 14, 1964. I saw the actual painting in an exhibit of his works a few years ago.
I searched for a Madame Alexander doll and could find nothing. Finally, I found the doll, but she was named Wilma and was made by Mary Moline of Greensboro, PA. Wilma was one of a series of porcelain dolls based on characters in Rockwell’s paintings, and they all seemed to have been produced during the 1980s. The dolls were made as limited-edition collectibles, Moline said in a 1985 newspaper interview. The porcelain faces were made in Germany, added Moline, owner of Rumbleseat Press Inc., and the costumes and wigs were made by several companies.
Checking the “Completed listings” under eBay’s Advanced Search turned up several of the dolls in original boxes that sold for $20 to $175. Only one appeared to be for sale when I conducted my research, but her condition was not clear from the photos. I suggest that the reader keep an eye on eBay where she may find others listed before the holidays. Search for “Norman Rockwell Wilma doll” or “black Wilma doll.” Also try Googling for a retail site that may be selling the doll.
Reader’s reply:
Thank you for your response. I will check eBay. My mother requested it for Christmas like a week ago, lol, and told me it was Madame Alexander. I do believe it is theWilma doll. I will continue to search. Once again, thank you.
Question:
I found this doll in a garage sale and can’t find any information on her age, history or value. Would you have any idea at all?
Answer:
I’ve written often about dolls and have been able to identify some for readers. This one, however, stumped me, so I asked the reader to check to see if there were a maker’s name on the neck of the doll and to send more pictures at various angles. It’s easier to research the doll if I have a full picture of her. The reader did so, and in my research, I was unable to find a similar doll. She resembled a black German bisque doll, but I was not sure about that.
I sought help from Debbie Behan Garrett, an expert on black dolls, and she didn’t recognize the doll, either. She suspected that it was likely a European doll but she wasn’t sure that it was German. She noted that the wig was not original to the doll. The doll appears older than the synthetic wig.
There were so many dolls made over the last century or more that it’s hard to identify them all or to find similar ones. I’m always coming across dolls I’ve never seen before.
Reader’s reply:
Thank you so much for all your work. Greatly appreciated. Would you have any ballpark figure on her value?
Answer:
Unfortunately not. Since I can’t ID her, I’m not able to find any other dolls for sale like her for comparison. I’m not expert enough about dolls to make a guess. The reader can do further research on Google and eBay to see if she can find a doll similar to her that’s been sold, or check for the doll in identification and price guides in her library.
If a reader can identify this doll, please let me know in the Comments box below.
