Hermann Steiner Dolls & Kohnstam Dolls 1909+ German

Hermann Steiner doll mold 273 living eye googly bisque doll

Hermann Steiner Antique Bisque Dolls 1920+ German

Hermann Steiner of Sonneberg and Neustadt, Germany and in Bavaria history; Hermann Steiner entered the doll market at the end of the German dominated bisque doll era and began producing dolls around 1920.  Hermann Steiner produced bisque, composition and celluloid doll heads with glass or painted eyes, molded hair or wigged with a body of cloth, kid leather or composition as black or white dolls.

Hermann Steiner is probably best known for character baby or infant dolls, the doll of choice in that era, to compete with the Bye-Lo Baby, Marseille Dream Baby dolls, etc. Hermann Steiner was innovative, he created the “The Living Steiner Eye”, which describes the natural movement of a dolls iris to move from side to side and close to sleep – googly eyes.

In 1926 the company name was changed to Porzellanfabrik Hermann Steiner. Sometime between 1940 to the 1960s Hermann Steiner merger and became Steiner & Hauser or Steha Doll & Toy Company – which used the doll mark Steha.

Hermann Steiner Antique Dolls Identified

1920s+ Hermann Steiner Pierrot Clown Baby doll, 8″

1920s+ Hermann Steiner Pierrot Clown Baby doll, 8” tall, bisque socket head, painted eyes and face, mohair wig, jointed composition body, he’s wearing a tall green hat that would have complemented his clown costume (we had to crop his hat in order to get the photo to fit this page, sorry baby clown doll), doll mark Germany Herm Steiner 16/0.

1920s Hermann Steiner doll mold 240 HS Bye-Lo type bisque head doll

1920s+ Hermann Steiner Character Baby doll, Bye-Lo Baby doll type look a like, 8-16″ tall, bisque head with flange neck, painted or glass eyes, solid dome head with molded painted hair or wigged, closed or open mouth, cloth or jointed composition body, bisque or composition hands, usually marked: HS Germany, 240, 246, 401.  This infant character doll was also made with a composition head and hands.

1920s+ Hermann Steiner Dolly face doll, 11″

1920s+ Hermann Steiner Dolly face doll, 10-22″ tall, bisque socket head, glass eyes, open mouth, wigged, jointed composition body, doll usually marked HS Germany + a size number or Herm Steiner Germany.

Also, Tessie doll mark, HS a size number, Moko Bavaria or Tessie Germany a size number, for the Moses Kohnstam Company.

Hermann Steiner Doll Marks Identified

Hermann Steiner doll mark HS

Hermann Steiner doll mark SHA, SAH, HAS

Hermann Steiner doll mark  HSN

Hermann Steiner doll mark HSt

Hermann Steiner doll mark HS Germany 240

Hermann Steiner doll mark Germany J-st-C

Hermann Steiner doll mark DRGM 954642 HS Germany 240

Hermann Steiner doll mark 402 H 5/0 S

Hermann Steiner doll trademark My Pearl (in 1921)

Steiner & Hauser doll mark Steha 1940s-60s

Hermann Steiner supplied bisque head dolls to Moses Kohnstam & Company, marked MOKO plus the HS Steiner mark.

Hermann Steiner Doll Mold Numbers Identified:

128, 133 googly eyes, 134 black doll, 153, 222 googly eyes, 223, 233 googly eye girl with open mouth, 240, 241, 242 googly eyes, 243, 245, 246, 247, 248 googly eyes, 273, 275, 391, 401, 402, 408, 455, 947, 1000, 459546240, 459754233 both nine digit number molds have googly eyes. Some Hermann Steiner dolls bodies are stamped incised 459546, 459754, 954642.

1926 Kohnstam Tessie doll, 14″ tall, bisque head, sleep eyes, painted lashes, closed mouth, wigged, cloth stuffed body with disk jointed limbs, stitched fingers, doll mark Tessie Germany 4/0.

Kohnstam Antique Bisque Dolls 1909-1935 German

Moses Kohnstam & Company, MOKO, a toy and doll distributor, importer and exporter was founded by MOses KOhnstam in 1867 in Fürth, Bavaria near Nuremberg, Germany.  Son Julius Kohnstam founded the Keen Company in 1913-1933 in London, England.

The M. Kohnstam company is primarily known for their metal die-cast toy products, they also distributed dolls as a marked doll has been found with both Hermann Steiner HS mark plus the MOKO Bavaria mark – so H. Steiner supplied some of the Kohnstam bisque head dolls.  Ernst Heubach of Koppelsdorf and Ernst Winkler (1903-1927), also supplied bisque doll heads to Kohnstam.

Kohnstam Dolls Identified

Additional M. Kohnstam doll names; 1909 Cupid doll, Japanese Baby doll, 1923 Lola or Lydia doll, 1910 Mothers Darling doll, 1926 Nanette doll, Princess Bett doll, Princess Charming doll (E. Heubach doll mold 320), 1915 The Duchess Dressed Doll, Newborn Baby a bent limb doll, Sam Boy a black bent limb baby doll, Sonny Boy a white bent limb baby doll.

Moses Kohnstam doll marks MOKO, HS Moko Bavaria, Mook, Germany W Moko, Tessie Germany.