Armand Marseille Antique Dolls 1884+ German

Armand Marseille of Sonneberg and Koppelsdorf, Thüringia, Germany was one of the worlds largest and best known bisque / porcelain doll head manufacturer.  Armand was born in 1856 in St. Petersburg, Russia the son of an architect and immigrated to Germany with his family after 1860. 

In 1884 Marseille bought a toy factory and in 1885 he acquired a porcelain factory in Koppelsdorf, Marseille’s earliest doll mold number is 1890 a dolly face shoulder head . . .  Armand Marseille’s empire and history in the doll world had begun. Most Armand Marseille dolls have AM initials in the marking.

Many antique doll collectors will have begun collections with a Marseille doll or added one or more over the course of doll collecting. Marseille dolls are easily found, plentiful, quality made from common to rare doll molds. Marseille doll molds & marks. Click images to enlarge.

Armand Marseille Dolls Identified

1900+ Marseille doll mold 370 bisque shoulder head, sleep eyes, open mouth, kid body doll mark 370.

1900+ Marseille doll mold 370 bisque shoulder head, kid body doll 22″

1900+ Marseille doll 390 bisque socket head composition jointed body doll

1900+ Marseille doll mold 390 bisque socket head, composition jointed body with stick legs doll mark 390.

From 1900-1938 Marseille’s most commonly found doll mold 370 a shoulder head on a cloth or kid body or doll mold 390 a socket head doll on a composition jointed body.  The early poured bisque doll heads have an inside lip or rim where the top of the head is cut out and are fired, features are painted, then fired again. The much later dolls are a heavier bisque like clay, fired, then the flesh color and features are painted without a final firing. All Marseille doll bodies were purchased from other doll makers. 

1894+ Marseille doll mold 1894 bisque socket head 21″, sleep eyes, open mouth, teen doll with ribbed, split hip body.

1894+ Marseille doll mold 1894 the teen doll with ribbed, split hip body 21″, unusual! by Wislizenus.

ca. 1900+ Marseille Alma doll 11″ bisque shoulder head, kid body doll mark Alma, made for George Borgfeldt.

ca. 1910 Marseille Queen Louise doll 24″, bisque socket head, composition jointed body.

From 1900 to 1930 it’s reported Marseille produced 1,000 bisque doll heads per day of baby, children, lady and character dolls, on cloth, kid or composition bodies, most doll heads with glass eyes, some with painted eyes. Marseille did not make All Bisque dolls and all Marseille doll bodies were purchased from other German doll makers.

ca. 1911 Marseille doll mold 200 Indian doll, 7″ bisque socket head, glass eyes, open mouth, papier mache jointed body, doll mark MH 200.

ca. 1912 Marseille doll mold 231 Fany 23″, bisque socket head, glass sleep eyes, closed mouth, composition jointed body, doll mark 231 Fany DRMR 248 AM.

1912 Marseille doll mold 240 glass googly eyes 12″ bisque domed head, closed watermelon mouth, composition baby bent limb body, doll mark 240 AM.

1925 Marseille doll mold 253 Nobbi Kid doll 10″ glass googly eyes, closed smiling watermelon mouth, composition jointed body, doll mark 253 Nobbikid.

In 1919 Ernst Heubach and Marseilles merged and formed the United Porcelain Factory of Koppelsdorf (Vereinigte Koppelsdorfer Porzellanfabrik vorm Armand Marseille and Ernst Heubach).  By 1932 the two companies went their separate ways.  Later Armand’s son Herman Marseille made doll heads of composition. Sometime in the 1950s the Armand Marseille company ceased doll production.

Many of Armand Marseille dolls have AM initials plus a mold number in the marking. The Marseille named dolls were mostly made for the USA market and often do not have the AM in the marking; Alice, Alma, Baby Betty, Baby Florence, Baby Phyllis, Beauty, Bessie, Cama, Columbia, Darling, Duchess, Ellar baby, Fany, Florodora, Jubilee, Just Me, Kiddiejoy, Lilly, Lissy, Little Sister, Mabel, Majestic, Margaret, Melitta, Minnit baby, My Companion, My Dearie, My Lovely, My Dream baby, My Pet, My Playmate, My Sweetheart, Nobbikid, Our Anne, Our Pet, Princess, Queen Louise, Rosebud, Roseland and we presume the Special doll. Many of these bisque doll heads were made for other doll makers or distributors. Daisy Dimple, Sunshine doll and Dainty Dorothy dolls were all sold, distributed through Sears. Marseille doll molds & marks