Collecting Frozen Charlottes and Bisque Dolls

Thuringen Recovered Doll Head $6.00

A handful of years ago, I was browsing the shelves at my most favorite natural history store "The Bone Room" (Albany, CA) when I noticed the very friendly sales girl unwrapping some peculiar broken dolls. My friend and I were immediately drawn in and the sales girl was so excited to tell us all about them. I bought two dolls after the girl explained that they had been excavated from a former bisque factory in Thuringia Germany. She told us that when it rained these old doll fragments would pop out of the moist ground after having been buried in the dirt for quite a while. I knew then that I had to have them.

Sitting Bisque Twins $9.00

Bisque dolls were popular between 1860 and 1900. They were favored because of their realistic looking features made of unglazed porcelain with a matte finish. These dolls were predominately made in Germany factories. The first dolls were made in the likeness of adults. After a few decades they were made to resemble children. The earlier ones referred to as "dolly-faced dolls." Many of these child-like dolls, produced between 1890-1930, were made in factories in Thurngia, Germany, the region rich in natural clay deposits used in the production.

Painted Frozen Charlotte Head $8.00

Frozen Charlotte is a term to describe a particular china or bisque doll. These dolls were moulded in one solid piece-essentially "frozen" in one place. The theory goes that their name was derived from the poem "Young Charlotte" by Seba Smith, a sad Victorian story of a young girl freezing to death. 

Set of 2 Recovered Doll Heads $9.00

To this day enthusiasts and collectors are still excavating dolls and doll pieces from the old factory sites in Thurngia. 

If you are interested collecting bisque dolls and Frozen Charlottes I suggest asking your local librarian for directions to the antique and collection section. A good library should have a few books on doll collecting. Amazon.com com offers a few helpful titles; China, Parian & Bisque German Dolls, A Pictorial Reference Guide To German Chinas, and In The Palm Of One's Hands: Small Bisque Dolls, 1877-1920. If you are wondering about values, check a Blue Book Doll book, Amazon has those too. 

Collecting: Natural History

The Bone Room. A dream come true for any natural history collector. Located North of Berkeley, in Albany, on Solano. If you're in the East Bay and you haven't been, believe me, you're missing out! The small space is fully stocked and neatly organized. You can find bones, fossils, insects, claws, horns, eggs, specimens of all types and many, many more amazing things! 

The Bone Room is where I purchased my first raccoon penis. 

 

 At The Bone Room I once bought my roommate a crazy long horse's tail for her birthday. And where I would always stock up on glassine envelopes, which I use for all kinds of art and package related things!

 

Where else can you find supplies for insect preservation, horns for a headdress, beautiful handcrafted jewelery, scientific themed games and toys for kids, pressed butterflies, taxidermy, and even actual Mexican jumping beans? The Bone Room And if you don't live in the Bay Area, you can order with them over the phone, or on their website. But if you can, stop in the shop and check out the llama skeleton, the taxidermy sloth, and the drawers and drawers of natural history!

(they also have a facebook, and a flickr)