Antiques Roadshow

GUEST

A very good friend of mine gave it to me because she said I would put it in my sitting room and show her, and so that's what I did, and it's probably about 13, 14 years ago.

APPRAISER

Have you ever heard of the Gibson Girl, the term "Gibson Girl"?

GUEST

Yes, I have.

APPRAISER

Well, the Gibson Girl was created by an illustrator named Gibson, and he was very prolific and became very wealthy and very socially prominent with his illustrations of the Gibson Girl. A German doll company asked for the rights to make dolls in the image of his Gibson Girl, so that's what we have here is this doll made by J.D. Kestner in Germany.

GUEST

Wow.

APPRAISER

You can tell it's very different from a child doll. She has this long neck and her face is looking up. Her hair is done in a style that an adult woman would have. Her body is of leather, her arms are bisque. Her necklace was probably added at a later date. Her clothing has some age, but it probably wasn't the original clothing that came with the doll. Her hair is original, it's made of mohair from mohair goats.

GUEST

Oh, okay.

APPRAISER

The under parts of the doll are all original.

GUEST

What year did you say that she would have been made?

APPRAISER

About 1915.

GUEST

About 1915?

APPRAISER

Around there.

GUEST

Were there lots of dolls like this?

APPRAISER

The company made quite a few, but they didn't sell well because they were more appealing to adults than to children.

GUEST

Oh, okay.

APPRAISER

On today's market, this doll would sell retail for between $1,500 and $2,200.

GUEST

Oh, my goodness. That's wonderful!