Louis Amberg Dolls 1878-1930

1912 Amberg Ma Chunk Herself doll, 8" tall, (an Oriental, Asian, Chinese character doll), all composition doll jointed only at the shoulders, black painted hair and facial features, closed mouth, dressed in tunic and pants, black painted shoes, doll is unmarked, has a paper label on tunic front; Ma Chunk Herself, L. A. & S. N.Y.

1912 Ma Chunk Herself doll, 8"

1914 Amberg John Bunny doll, 11-12" tall, celebrity doll, composition flange head and arms, cloth body and legs, molded painted brown hair, painted blue eyes, open mouth with painted upper and lower teeth, black sewn on cloth shoes.  Portrait doll of famous first American silent film comedian John H. Bunny (1863 -1915).  Doll is unmarked or marked L. A. & S. 1914.  There were possibly two John Bunny dolls made by Amberg.

The John Bunny photo shown on left, looks just like the dolls actual face sculpt.

1914 John Bunny doll, 12"

1914 Amberg Newborn Babe doll, Bottle Babe, My Playmate or Baby, 4-13" tall, bisque head, painted hair, sleep eyes, cloth body, some had a crier, head made by three different German companies:  Armand Marseille mold 371 with an open mouth, Recknagel mold 886 and Hermann Steiner.  Was designed by doll artist and sculptor Jeno Juszko and was meant to look like a two day old baby.  Maybe marked; L. A. & S. 1914, G45520, Germany #4 - depending on bisque head maker 371, Theodor Recknagel 241 RA, 886, Hermann Steiner doll mold 240.
 

See any resemblance to Grace Putnam's Bye-Lo Baby doll created in 1923?

1926 Newborn Baskit Babe doll now came in a willow basket with a blanket, rattle, the larger the size doll, the more accessories were added.

1914 Newborn Babe doll, 13"

1915 Amberg Baby Glee doll, 18 - 26" tall, composition flange head, cloth stuffed body with stitched hips, partial composition lower arms and legs, molded lightly painted hair with a comma shaped curl on forehead, painted blue tin sleep eyes with painted upper wispy eyelashes, big open happy smiling mouth with two upper and lower teeth, doll is unmarked.   Designed by artist Jeno Juszko.

1915 Baby Glee doll, 18"

1915 Amberg Charlie Chaplin doll, 14" tall, celebrity portrait doll, composition head and hands, cloth stuffed body and limbs with black shoes attached, painted facial features with mustache, came dressed in a two piece suit, shirt, tie, cane and top hat, doll is unmarked, clothing contains a label; CHARLIE DOLL World's Greatest Comedian Made Exclusively By Louis Amberg & Son, NY by Special Arrangement With Essanay Film Co.. 

The other portrait doll is a Zulu Lucky doll named Oo-Gug-Luk and is the last doll Hungarian born New York artist, sculptor and medalist Jeno Juszko (b. 1880-1954) made for Amberg.  Juszko also designed dolls for Borgfeldt and F. A. Lapp.

1915 Amberg Oo-Gug-Luk is 13" tall, uses the Charlie Chaplin head mold, cloth body painted all black with three white circles painted around eyes and closed painted red mouth, gold tone hoop earrings, shell necklace, dressed in faux white fur and a black fringe skirt.

1915 Charlie Chaplin doll, 14 "

1915-1920 Amberg Ambisc doll, ten various sizes, all composition jointed Character bent limb Baby dolls, molded hair or wigged, doll mark Ambisc.

1915-1920 Ambisc doll, 13"

1915 Amberg Pouty Pets doll, Real Live Children, 12, 14, 16" tall, boy dolls or girl dolls, composition flange head and lower arms, cloth stuffed inside disk jointed body, bent or straight legs, deeply sculpted molded then painted hair in various short hair styles, painted side glancing eyes, pouty closed mouth, doll marks 494, L A & S © 1915 and possibly other marks. 

Similar to the bisque heads by Gebrüder Heubach and a competitor of Effanbee's composition Grumpy dolls.

1915 Pouty Pets doll 16", Girl face

1917-1920 Amberg Victory doll, 16-24" tall, composition socket head, ball jointed composition body, wigged, sleep eyes, open mouth with teeth, most dolls have a marking on the back of Amberg Victory Doll and some dolls the backs are unmarked.  

1920-1927 Amberg Victory doll with a Fulper Pottery bisque marked head.  Fulper Pottery supplied bisque heads for other Amberg child and baby dolls during the World War I era 1920-1922, Horsman too.

1917-1920 Victory doll composition head, 23"

1919 Amberg Walking Doll, 19 - 28 1/2" tall, "doll walks by guiding its arm", flange composition head on the smaller doll, composition shoulder head on the larger size, full composition arms, painted molded hair  &/or human hair or mohair wig, painted eyes or tin sleep eyes, open mouth with two upper teeth, ball jointed legs attached to dolls bottom, cloth stuffed body, came dressed in a cotton voile dress with matching bonnet both trimmed with lace, underwear, stockings and shoes, dolls maybe unmarked or marked: L. A. & S. 1919, T & N June 1919, patented June 11, 1918 No. 1269056.

1919 Amberg Walking Doll, 22 1/2"

The Sears 1921 ad states this doll is three sizes: 19 1/2" former price $9.50 - Our Price $5.98.

22 1/2" former price $12.75 -

Our Price $8.95. 

28 1/2" former price $19.95 -

Our Price $10.85.

ca. 1920s Amberg All Bisque Character dolls, 4-7' tall, made by a German manufacturer of pre-tinted pink bisque; Bisque Girl, Amberg Mibs doll with molded flowers in hair or Amberg Baby Peggy doll. 

See below for more information on the Mibs doll.

ca. 1920s Mibs doll with molded flowers, 4 3/4"

1921 Amberg Mibs doll, 16" tall, composition shoulder head on a cloth body, composition arms above elbow, composition hip pin legs with molded painted or unpainted shoes.  Has molded painted hair with a prominent single center bang that is slightly curled, blue painted eyes, painted upper lashes, closed mouth. 

Mibs is a Phyllis May doll (Hazel's daughter) created by Hazel Drukker (Mrs. George Silberman), based on her column in the Evening Mail a New York daily newspaper and also based on the book titled: Phyllis May and Her Dollies published in 1920.  Doll is unmarked.

1921 MIBS doll, 16"

1921-1922 Amberg Nature Children dolls, 21" tall (plus three other sizes), doll shown has a composition head and lower arms, painted eyes, cloth stuffed body, upper arms and legs.  Sixteen different styles; crying, sitting, talking and walking.  Dolls maybe marked L A & S + a year or unmarked.

1921-1922 Nature Children dolls, 21"

1923 Amberg Baby Peggy doll, the Nations Darling, 20" tall, celebrity doll, either composition and wood or kid jointed body, composition head with molded brown hair, some may have a brown mohair wig as well, glass eyes, open smiling mouth with white painted teeth, doll is unmarked.   Peggy was an actress child star of the 1920s. 

1923 Baby Peggy doll, 20"

1924 Amberg Baby Peggy doll, the Nations Darling, 18" tall, celebrity doll, bisque head made by Armand Marseille, doll mold 972 or 973 are socket heads and molds 982 or 983 are shoulder heads, jointed composition body, brown mohair wig, glass eyes with lashes, smiling mouth, doll marked: L. A. & S. 19©24 NY + mold number.   Peggy was a child star of the 1920s.

1924 Baby Peggy doll, the Nations Darling, 18" bisque head doll mold 972 by Armand Marseille

1924 Amberg Sunny Orange Maid doll or Sunny Orange Blossom doll, 14" tall, composition shoulder head with molded orange peel cap, arms & partial legs, cloth body with stitched shoulder & hips, squeaker in body, short arms, painted blue eyes and painted upper lashes, closed mouth, shown dressed in her original orange dress with short jacket, orange ribbon sash; SUNNY ORANGE MAID, Copr. LOUIS AMBERG & SON 1924, ?? PATENTED, doll marked  L. A. & S. 1924.

1924 Sunny Orange Maid doll, 14"

ca. 1925 Amberg Baby Tufums doll, tiny sizes, all bisque doll with bent limbs, Bye-Lo or New Born Babe type, very light painted hair, painted eyes, open mouth, jointed at the neck, shoulders and hips, has two bent arms and each hand is cupped to; left hand holds a baby bottle and the right hand to suck their thumb, doll marked on back LA & S Baby Tufums 107, 110 or 618 Germany.

ca. 1925 Baby Tufums doll 2 3/4",

LA & S Baby Tufums 110 Germany

1926 Amberg Charleston Toddlers dolls, 11" tall, all composition black or white dolls, painted side glancing eyes, wigged, painted molded shoes, doll marked or labeled Charleston Toddlers an Amberg specialty trademarked 1926 Germany.
 

1926 Amberg Charleston Toddlers dolls, 11"

1927+ Amberg Vanta Baby doll, bisque head 20-22" tall or composition head 16-20" tall, composition and cloth body, molded painted hair, sleep eyes, open mouth with teeth. doll usually marked Vanta Baby Amberg.

1927 Vanta Baby doll

1928 Amberg Sue doll with the body twist waist, 8 or 14" tall, all composition with an extra ball and socket twist waist body, several dolls came with this feature; Edwina doll, IT doll (supposedly referring to actress Clara Bow), Peter Pan doll, Teenie Weenies doll or Tiny Tots dolls. 

Sue has a composition head, slight frowning expression, molded short waved hair with side sweeping bangs, painted eyes, closed pouty mouth, jointed body twist waist.  Some dolls maybe marked: Amberg Pat. Pend. L. A. & S. © 1928.

This doll mold was also used by Horsman for their Peggy doll.

1928 Sue body twist doll, 14"

1928 Amberg Teenie Weenie dolls or Amberg Tiny Tots dolls, 8 or 14" tall, boy or girl dolls, all composition, body twist waist and jointed only at the shoulders, stationary legs with black painted shoes, slightly bent left arm, molded painted hair; the boy with "Justin Bieber" style hair, with bangs and hair combed straight down towards the face, the girl has a short bob with slight center part bangs and waves over her ears, usually with brown painted side glancing eyes, both have closed mouths, doll marked  L. A. & S. © 1928.

Had a paper hangtag; Amberg, The Teenie Weenies, Weenies Line, Trademark Reg., The Golden Anniversary.

The 13" size Tiny Tots dolls or Teenie Weenie dolls came on toddler jointed bodies. The 1912 version of Tiny Tots dolls at 12" tall, have a different face mold, flange composition heads with open smiling watermelon mouth, composition hands and cloth bodies, doll mark © L. A. & S. 1912.

1928 Teenie Weenies doll or Tiny Tots doll, 8"

1929 Amberg Little Amby doll, 13" tall, all composition jointed toddler body, molded painted hair, brown painted eyes, open or closed mouth, doll marked Amberg  L. A. & S © Co.  Companion to the Tiny Tots or Teenie Weenie dolls.

1929 Little Amby doll 13", face