ANTIQUE MAX HANDWERCK BEBE ELITE BISQUE HEAD CHARACTER CHILD DOLL EXQUISITE 20\" For Sale

For sale is a beautifull c.1900 antique \'Bebe Elite\' bisque head jointed doll. Made by Max Handwerck in Germany As pictured with original dress and wig - there is some damage to the fingers - kindly see pictures to assess condition Max Handwerck factory was a fairly late arrival to the area and only started its production in 1899-1900. Within several years, Max died and his wife Anna kept the business going. This was not as large a factory as the Heinrich Handwerck works, so of course not as many Max Handwerck dolls still exist today.

In 1901, Max Handwerck registered the trademark Bébé Elite for bisque-head dolls on composition ball-jointed bodies. Bébé Elite was advertised as having enamel teeth, sleeping eyes, and wigs. These heads were made exclusively for Max from his own designs by the F. & W. Goebel porcelain factory (well known today for their Hummel figurines).

Most dollmakers did not own porcelain factories, so they had to have their heads, limbs, and all-bisque dolls made for them. The heads could be exclusive models produced for a specific dollmaker or stock heads which the porcelain factory could sell to many different doll producers. J. D. Kestner was an exception, in that he had both a doll factory and a porcelain factory, allowing Kestner to make complete dolls and also manufacture heads for other doll factories.

Not all Max Handwerck dolls have mold numbers, but of those that do, commonly found are 283, 286, 287, and 297. One outstanding face is mold 421, which has lovely, high-quality bisque. It must have been their top-of-the-line doll. This is harder to find, but it’s a doll well worth searching for. The Max Handwerck factory was in business for over 30 years.