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googly-eyed doll

Long awaited googly-eyed doll achieves $22,800 at Alderfer Auction

Tom Hoepf
Tom Hoepf
googly-eyed doll
Oscar Hitt German googly-eyed character doll,13 in. Price realized: $22,800. Alderfer Auction image

HATFIELD, Pa. – Emotions ran high on April 3 as the last doll offered at Alderfer’s doll auction sold for $22,800. The winning bidder had waited decades for this German “googly-eyed” doll to come up for sale. Absentee and Internet live bidding was available through LiveAuctioneers.

This googly-eyed doll, named Virginia (“Ginny” for short), was an Oscar Hitt German character doll with stunning blue side-glance eyes, a closed mouth and brown mohair wig. The doll had a bisque head, flange neck and pin joints. It came dressed for the occasion with antique cotton clothing.

Other items from this sought-after collection of a well-known Lehigh Valley, Pa., dealer, were a pair of girl and boy Maggie Bessie dolls (below) that sold $13,200.

googly-eyed doll
Pair of original 20-in Maggie Bessie dolls, all cloth with flat faces, hand-painted hair and features, original clothing and matching leather sandals. Price realized: $13,200. Alderfer Auction image

European dolls took front and center stage leading with lot 3426, a 17-inch Van Rozen Doll France Depose doll (below), selling for $7,800. Following the trend was the 17-inch 6EJ, Emile Jumeau, which sold for $5,100. Lot 3409, a 14-inch 02033 BSW “Wendy” doll character, sold for $5,400. A Lenci doll with its original child’s dress sold for $3,300 and an early Steiff blue mohair cat sold for $660.

googly-eyed doll
Van Rozen France Depose character doll, Rosie, 17in. Price realized: $7,800. Alderfer Auction image

A 10-inch cloth sculpture doll by American artist Dorothy Heizer brought $3,900.

googly-eyed doll
Unmarked 10-inch cloth sculpture doll by Dorothy Heizer with painted features. Price realized: $3,900. Alderfer Auction image

This was the second-highest selling doll auction in Alderfer Auction history.

For details contact Alderfer Auction at 215-393-3000.

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