Dolls took center stage at Alderfer Auction and Appraisal’s semiannual antique doll auction, “Favorite Pastimes,” on August 10. With more than 1,100 lots, the sale featured active floor bidding, as well as Internet and telephone bids and posted high results.
“This auction had unusual dolls which continue to bring in a great deal of interest and high prices,” said Roxanne LeMay Morison, doll specialist at Alderfer’s. “Specifically, cloth dolls were popular at this auction.”
A Lenci golfer, featured on the cover of the catalog and the inspiration for the title of the sale, sold for $3,300 to a collector from Missouri via a telephone bid. A buyer from Wisconsin was high bidder on a pair of 18-inch Moravian cloth dolls that sold for $2,200, and an early Volland Raggedy Ann doll was purchased by a collector via telephone for $1,430 against some active floor and eBay bidding.
The auction included numerous large dolls that were popular with bidders. A 35-inch German Simon Halbig bisque doll brought $1,045, a 40-inch unmarked bisque doll sold for $1,320 and a 41-inch German doll, so large it wore child’s shoes, brought $2,200. A pair of Door of Hope dolls, which are 11 ½ inches tall, brought $3,850 from a phone bidder from New England. The estate of Rosemary V. Arters, a collector and member of the Letitia Penn Doll Club of Philadelphia, contributed many dolls to the sale, including a 16-inch French fashion doll that sold for $3,025 to a Pennsylvania dealer.
Alderfer Auction and Appraisal holds two cataloged antique doll auctions each year (the next antique doll auction will be April 25–26), as well as numerous auctions of modern and collectable dolls and toys. “Dolls continue to be a very collectable item. Because most dolls were played with when they were new, finding antique dolls in good condition is a real challenge and joy for the collector,” said Morison.
Alderfer Auction’s antique doll auction drew hundreds of eBay bidders from those who followed the auction on line, and also accepted bids via telephone from California, New England, Japan, Singapore and Canada. All prices quoted include a ten percent buyer’s premium.
Alderfer Auction and Appraisal is at 501 Fairgrounds Road. For information, 215-393-3000 or www.alderferauction.com.
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