x Saturday, March 29
The one-owner auction of Karen Rockwell Collection featuring French poupées, all-bisque miniatures and accessories and costumes.
x Sunday, March 30
The Marquis auction weekend continues with 300 fine antique dolls and playthings from other private collections, and including a fine collection of early Steiff teddy bears.
Saturday
Preview 9AM Eastern • Auction Begins at 11AM Eastern
“MISS LILY & FRIENDS” THE ONE OWNER AUCTION OF THE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF KAREN ROCKWELL
“She didn’t just walk into a room; she owned it. Whether through her words, her actions, or that signature no-nonsense attitude, you always knew when Karen was in charge. And let me tell you, she was always in charge” are the words of her family describing the celebrated doll collector Karen Rockwell. Collectors who knew her would agree, and they would also agree with these further words of the family that “toughness was only part of who she was…she made people feel seen and heard in a way that was deeply human and profoundly caring”. In the field of dolls, she knew her subject, she constantly studied and searched, and then, she shared. A notable example of her sharing was the lovely Rohmer poupée which she named Miss Lily and which she shared with other collectors at innumerable doll shows and conventions. It is Miss Lily and her many friends that, thus, are honored with the name of this auction.
Karen Rockwell, a lifelong California resident, was a worldfamous antique doll collector, a true authority in her field. She rose to lead the United Federation of Doll Clubs (UFDC), serving in multiple leadership roles: UFDC Director from 20002003, Secretary/Treasurer from 2003-2005, 2nd Vice President from 2005-2007, 1st Vice President and Director of Real Services from 2007-2009, and ultimately, UFDC President from 2009-2011. Over the years, she received multiple awards for excellence, cementing her legacy as one of the most respected experts in the world of antique dolls.
Although her interest in dolls spanned many categories, her
particular focus was directed to the French poupée and the early all-bisque dolls of France and Germany, and it is those categories that are highlighted in her auction collection. The artistry of Adelaide Huret was a particular fascination for her, and the collection includes three fine examples of the Huret poupée as well as furnishings and costumes that bear the Huret signature. As for the poupées of Leontine Rohmer, Miss Lily is not alone as there are several other fine examples, each with an important feature introduced by that firm, and many with complete trousseaux. Other poupées are presented by studios of Bru, Simonne, LavallePeronne, Au Nain Bleu, Aux Reves des Enfances and Giroux & Cie, many with wooden bodies, and all with fine antique costumes.
Her love of all-bisque dolls spanned the beautiful mignonettes of the golden age in Paris to the dolls of Kestner with variations of body and decoration, and into this she added the early miniature sculpted hair dolls by Simon and Halbig with all-bisque or cloth bodies. Then, curiously, exhibiting the whimsicality that softened her focused drive, she turned full circle and highlighted her collection with two early models of the Izannah Walker cloth doll which are featured in the auction.
The collection is presented in a one day, single owner auction. Collectors are urged to plan to attend the auction to view these rare dolls in person, but the auction is also streamed in a live online presentation. Bidding is welcome in attendance, online, by telephone, or by traditional absentee bidding. The dolls are all presented in a beautiful art catalog titled “Miss Lily and Friends”. x
“MISS LILY & FRIENDS”
Order this important catalog today for bidding purposes or your ongoing research library. Over 170 pages of fullcolor photographs and read the historical descriptions of these rare dolls and playthings. The catalog price includes two-day priority shipping to you, and after-auction price results. $69. Call 410-224-3655.
Get Close-Up and Personal with Your Favorite Dolls from Theriault’s
Face2Live is Theriault’s new service that allows you to view on live video feed closeups of a few dolls you are most interested in. Call 410-224-3655 or email info@theriaults.com to schedule an appointment. Then simply go to theriaults.com and click the handy button on the side of the main page. From there you will be connected to one of our staff on video chat (you do not have to be on video yourself). A great way to get a closeup look of features and face in a live private video session. Available Monday through Friday 9AM-4PM Eastern.
x Order your catalog and study in the comfort of your living room.
x Public Preview March 29-30 from 9AM-11AM immediately preceding that day’s auction.
x Visit www.theriaults.com and link to Theriault’s YouTube Channel for a video presentation of many of the dolls by Florence Theriault.
x Visit www.theriaults.com and link to ISSUU to view a digital copy of the catalog.
x Visit www.theriaults.com and link to “Auctions” to see each doll in the catalog.
x Call Theriault’s at 410-224-3655 and make an appointment for a private video viewing of your preferred dolls.
An entire industry of miniature accessories for dolls flourished in Paris throughout the past 40 years of the 1800s. When the 1874 inventory of the famous French dollmaker, Eugene Barrois, was made at the time of his death, it included the following in addition to dolls and doll parts.
“…shoes, high-heeled shoes, ankle boots, jewelry sets, earrings, rings, crosses, shawls, miniature books, letter paper, small Missals, envelopes, belts, purses with handles, small wallets, fans in wood and ivory, doll gloves, hats, blouses, slips, trousers, aprons, handkerchiefs, wimples, corsets, furs, wicker trunks, suitcases, paper goods, hat boxes, plaid luggage, travel bags…”
The importance of the miniature doll accessory was not lost on observers of the time, either. In 1880, Antonin Rondelet wrote about this phenomenon in the magazine, Journal des Desmoiselles.
“…All the objects found in the various circumstances of life have been reproduced in miniature doll scale, in a style that is not the poetic ideal form of approximation, but in highly realistic form, as though the objects could be actually used”.
He elaborated on this thought.
“The dwarfed boots look perfectly able to stand up to the dampness and mud of the streets. Similarly, the tiny umbrellas are fully equipped with ribs and springs, ready to stand up to stormy blasts. The manufacturers have designed trunks, purses, travel tarps, all in scrupulous detail. These extremely curious and interesting miniatures are no cheaper to buy than the originals they imitate…”
Although certain luxury miniature accessories were made prior to the mid-1800s, the niche industry did not blossom until an important change occurred in doll design. That was the idea of changeable costumes. By mid-1850s, dolls were being designed with costumes that could be removed, replaced, or interchanged, rather than the earlier dolls that primarily appeared with permanently sewn-on or affixed clothing. That change was made possible by new articulated bodies, suggesting that not only could dolls have a change of costume, but that they would be posed, placed in vignette settings, and adorned with accessories and ephemera. Voila, demand for accessories began!
It is certain that whatever objects were made for real people were also made for dolls. And while many of the miniature pieces were made in doll firms or studios, it is also true that many were made in the same workshops which made people-sized accessories. A review of the Parisian department store catalogs of the 1880 era indicates that accessories, such as the popular sac du voyage luggage, were made in doll size as well as full size. Further, many accessory firms presented salesman’s models of their objects, sometimes for logistical reasons (easier for a salesman to carry a miniature example than a full-sized trunk!) and sometimes as special promotions. After all, buy one for mama, and one for mama’s daughter’s doll.
The 1860-1875 era in Paris was especially notable for its exclusive and luxury doll boutiques. These ranged from specialty doll shops such as that of Jeanne Lavalle-Peronne of A La Poupée de Nuremberg to that of Alphonse Giroux whose luxury decorative objects store. Giroux & Cie, included premiere dolls and accessories among its expensive goods. And always, tucked along with the dolls were the accessories.
The preservation of these treasures is a particular challenge for today’s collectors. The search for examples is daunting, and the assurance of their originality a task few collectors are willing to undertake, despite their admiration. To those collectors who have faced the challenge, studied and examined and compared, a special debt is due. Karen Rockwell met this challenge head-on and to her is owed a special bow of admiration. Presented here are historic examples from her doll accessories to be presented in the auction “Miss Lily and Friends”. x
Preview 9AM Eastern • Auction Begins at 11AM Eastern
“MISS LILY & FRIENDS”
Doll and plaything treasures of childhood
past, the best of the best garnered from private collections from Arizona to Australia meld in an exceptional Marquis auction on Sunday, March 30 on day two of the Marquis weekend. Highlighting the auction is the extremely rare 21” Kammer and Reinhardt 106 model from their art character movement of the 1910 era; in 55 years of auctions, Theriault’s has only offered one other example of this model,
so rare it is. In the same genre is the wonderful 22” painted eye character by Marseille with exceptional bisque and modeling. Art character dolls by Gebruder Heubach also headline the auction with rarities including the sought-after Princess Juliana. Collectors of French bébés will be delighted as well with several splendid examples from Leon Casimir Bru, as well as early models by Emile Jumeau and a splendid 13” bébé AT by Thuillier. Poupées also grace the day including a lovely early example from Adelaide Huret and wooden bodied smiling poupées by Bru. Collectors of American dolls are especially graced with early Volland Raggedy Ann dolls, rare examples of Babyland Rag, and a charming group of Schoenhut dolls including Schnickelfritz along with his partner, a Schoenhut Rolly-Dolly with Schnickelfritz face. The auction includes more than 300 dolls of the finest order, all featured in the a beautiful full color photograph. Collectors are urged to plan to attend the auction to view these rare dolls in person, but the auction is also streamed in a live online presentation. Bidding is welcome in attendance, online, by telephone, or by traditional absentee bidding. x
Also included in the Sunday auction is a fine collection of early teddy bears, highlighted by Steiff bears from the early period, each from the private collection of Dorothy Thomas of Australia
It’s simple. Everything starts at $50. It’s only on-line, and it means more at-home bidding fun! So just start bidding, just like oldtime country auctions and watch where the prices go. You’ll find treasures no one else noticed, you’ll find dolls and accessories and toys in need of your loving care, you’ll find dolls worth many hundreds of dollars and others designed for bidders on a budget. SOLD AS IS…just like old-time country auctions. No you won’t find dolls that Theriault’s offers in catalog auctions, but you might find just that little treasure that warms your heart this week. It’s all up to you.
It’s just half a day and then you’re on your way. But it’s not for the faint of heart And it’s the best kept secret in the doll world.
And here’s what it is. Simple. 400 lots are sold in just three hours. One hour inspection before the auction. Caveat emptor. Every lot starts at $10. Some lots are treasures and others are not.
It’s what old-fashioned auctions used to be. No absentee bids, no telephone bidding, no internet bidding, Only you and the others in the room. And it’s all about dolls.
Friday, March 21, 2025
Friday, April 18, 2025
The world of collecting and collectors is a curious one… and it’s where Stuart Holbrook has spent most of his life.
As President of Theriault’s, the world’s leader in the auction of antique dolls and figurative art, Stuart has traveled the world managing the often personal and always wild experience of collecting and being a collector. Now, he’s bringing his expertise and knowledge of trends to life in his new podcast, The Curious Collector.
In each episode, Stuart will share his insight, experiences and real-life stories, along with sage advice on building great collections while enjoying the happy life of a collector. No matter what you collect—whether you’re just beginning or have been at it for years—this podcast is guaranteed to surprise and enlighten, all while keeping the fire burning to find that next elusive item to add to your collection.
For many years you dreamed of visiting these celebrated museums. But time passed, and, sadly, the museums closed without your visit. Or perhaps you did visit, and now you long for a chance to see again the beautiful dolls that you saw there once upon a time. Here are beautiful books that honor those legendary doll museums, filled with exquisite photographs.
Rosalie Whyel spent her collecting years in the advocacy of the doll as an art form, indeed, even naming her justly celebrated museum in Bellevue, Washington as The Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art. It was not simply a museum of dolls, but, boldly, a Museum of Doll Art. Through her leadership, many collectors came to realize that the sculpture and design of a doll was an art form as surely as more traditionally named objects such as bronze sculptures or portrait paintings. For this, it is not possible to praise her enough.
Yet, there is more. Because Rosalie Whyel also saw the doll as history. A study of the dolls in her museum collection underscores this over and over again. The personal story of each doll, why it was created, what was its inspiration, who owned it and cared for it, its chronological connection with other similar dolls, its uniqueness and why, was an important element in each doll’s presentation. The history of each doll was as important to her as the physical object itself. In these two catalogs, Rosalie, A Life of Dolls, these dual purposes of the doll as art and the doll as history is explored.
The collection ranges from extremely rare French bébés and poupées, to the early wooden dolls of England and Europe, to the esoteric, to the dolls of mystery background whose history is yet to be uncovered. The art work of German dolls of the early 1900s is explored and the presentation of her dolls leads the collector through the myriad historical phases of the 20th century, including the studio art dolls of children created by Lilli Baitz to the development of the celebrity doll industry. The history of dolls as seen through the vision of this zealous and curious collector was presented first at the Museum she built and nurtured and, now, fittingly at her request is returned to hands of other knowing and caring collectors.
Rosalie: Pt. I. 356 pages. 10” x 10” Softbound. $79. Order BT-386S. Rosalie: Pt. II. 252 pages. 10” x 10”. Softbound. $79. Order BT-396S.
The landmark museum, founded nearly a half-century ago by the Christiansen Family of Denmark, includes over 2000 antique dolls, toys, dollhouses, paper ephemera and other childhood objects. Hardbound. 9” x 12”. 392 pages. $59. Order BT-239.
Tucked into a stone-cobbled impasse in the 3rd arrondissement of Paris for the past quarter century has been an exceptional Museum of Antique Dolls, the inspired creation of Samy and Guido Odin. Over 400 beautiful dolls shown in this Museum are featured in this book. Hardbound. 10” x 10”. 196 pages. $75. Order BT-333.
Nearly 1000 rare dolls are presented in this exquisite commemorative book featuring the beloved Swiss museum which had remained silently closed for many decades before its exquisite dolls were presented to the public. Hardbound. 10” x 10”. 204 pages. $85. Order BT-310.
The legendary Spielzeug Museum of Davos, Switzerland, filled 90 showcases on three floors, splendidly repleted with wonderful childhood treasures from the golden years of the 19th and early-20th century. Hardbound. 10” x 10”. 228 pages. $75. Order BT-295.
Every Theriault’s auction brims with new discoveries for your collection. So why not join in on the bidding fun? It’s easy. Choose your favorite way to bid and prioritize your choices.
Plan to spend the day at the auction in the comfort of your home. Watch and listen to the auction live, and get ready to bid live when the dolls of your choice come up for auction.
Choose your dolls, and then call our office to make a reservation for telephone bidding. We call you when your dolls of choice come up for bidding, and you bid just as though you were there.
Place your bids right up to the time of auction by mail, fax, email or phone. Advise us of the lots and your top bid. We will bid for you fairly and competitively.
Call Theriault’s at 410-224-3655 or email info@theriaults.com and we’ll review all the details and help you choose the option that’s best for you. We also now offer scheduled private video previews.
Featuring educational videos about antique dolls, up-to-date doll news, and great resources.
Theriaults.com always has something new, with great information and highlights in a clean and simple place to discover them.
Explore our upcoming auctions, stunning doll photography, and invaluable resources for collectors. All in one easy-to-navigate website.
Go to theriaults.com to complete your doll research or just to see what’s new!
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❒ “Miss Lily & Friends” Marquis Auction Catalog Featuring the Karen Rockwell Collection — At Theriault’s Gallery in Annapolis, MDMarch 29-30, 2025. Softbound. $69.
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SATURDAY
March 29, 2025
“Miss Lily & Friends”
9:00 AM ET. Preview. 11:00 AM ET. Auction.
SUNDAY
March 30, 2025
“Miss Lily & Friends”
9:00 AM ET. Preview. 11:00 AM ET. Auction.
We welcome absentee bidding, live telephone bidding, and live bidding on the internet. Too, you can “tunein” to the online auction and watch and listen to the entire event. Questions? Give us a call and we’ll help you choose the bidding option that is best for you.
The auctions will take place at the Theriault’s Studio, 2148 Renard Court, Annapolis, Maryland 21401. For auction info call Theriault’s at 410-224-3655 M-F 9AM-5PM EST or go online to theriaults.com. Email queries to info@theriaults.com.
catalog call 410-224-3655 or visit
Theriaults.com.