Category Archives: Lenci Dolls

Dec 7, 1920 Lenci Dolls in Printemps Catalog

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Catalog page of Lenci Doll Published in Au Printemps, Jouets, Mardi 7 Décembre, 1920

Dominique Pennegues drew my attention to this wonderful catalog page from Au Printemps showing the range of Lenci dolls offered from sale for Winter 1920/21. A notice on the cover of the Au Printemps toy catalog announces that the toys will be on exhibit from Tuesday Dec 7, 1920 for the entire month. Here we see examples of some of the earliest and rarest of Lenci dolls such as the Pierrot, the cowboy, Harelquin, the Salome doll, which was already on the market in 1919,  and the early toddler dolls etc. Notice the prices in French francs, which were roughly equivalent to the US dollar value at the time.

Many thanks to Dominique for this rare record of Lenci dolls from winter 1920-21.

Dominique’s website: http://french-cloth-dolls-encyclopedia.com/web/index.php/en/

Rare Lenci Josephine Baker Doll on Proxibid

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Rare Josephone Baker Lenci Doll

Offered on “I Only Wanted to Wonder”, A Marquis Doll Auction
Tuesday, Aug 1, 2017 | 11:00 AM Eastern
Description:
18″ (46 cm.) Plumply-cheeked light brown wool felt swivel head with pressed and painted facial features, dark brown side-glancing painted eyes with white eye dots, curly upper lashes, rounded nose with accent dots, very full red felt stitched-on lips, black mohair wig in short bobbed style with forelock curl, stitched-on ears, uniquely-constructed body with voluptuous pose, sculpted bosom, constructed bent elbows, bow-legged knee. Condition: generally excellent, slight banding fade at midriff, few very tiny moth holes. Comments: Lenci, circa 1926, the doll portrays the American-born Parisian dancer, Josephine Baker, in the costume of her most famous performance, “Danse Banane” at the Folies Bergere; the doll was named Josephine in the Lenci catalog. Value Points: extremely rare Lenci model with uniquely-stitch-sculpted body and highly-stylized unique face, wearing well-preserved original costume of felt bananas and leaves, bangle necklace, wrist and ankle bracelets.

Update: This doll closed at: $5,250.00

https://www.proxibid.com/asp/LotDetail.asp?lid=37185172

Call for Canadian Lenci Collectors

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If you are a Lenci doll collector from Canada you may be interested in the following notification. from Sherri Gropp, Assistant Curator at Castle Kilbride National Historic Site in Baden, Ontario. For further details please contact Sherri directly sherri.gropp@wilmot.ca

I am the Assistant Curator at Castle Kilbride National Historic Site in Baden, Ontario. In 2018 we are celebrating what would have been the 100th birthday of the little girl that lived at Castle Kilbride. She loved Lenci dolls and has at least 3 (unfortunately we only have one in our collection.) We would like to host an exhibit on Lenci Dolls and are looking for any Canadian collectors. If you could help us out we would greatly appreciate it! Please feel free to pass along my information to anyone who can assist.
Warm regards
Sherri
Sherri Gropp|Assistant Curator| Castle Kilbride National Historic Site |Township of Wilmot
60 Snyder’s Road W. Baden, ON N3A 1A1 | P. 519.634.8444 x 259 | Toll. 800.469.5576 |TTY 519.634.5037
http://www.castlekilbride.ca

 

Very Rare 1925 Lenci doll

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Rare 1925 Lenci Doll on eBay

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This is a rare 1925 Lenci doll Model 350A with forward looking eyes Click Here to see it on eBay. This model was only sold in 1925 and then discontinued making it very rare indeed. The doll came in 2 different versions one with long hair as seen here and one with a bob wearing a hat which can be seen in Continue reading →

Fernanda Fassy dressed as Lenci doll

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Fernanda Fassy, Roma 1895 attrice del cinema muto, vestita come la Circense Lenci del 1926. Italian silent film actress dressed like the circus girl by Lenci 1926,

Fernanda Fassy, Roma 1895 attrice del cinema muto, vestita come la Circense Lenci del 1926. Italian silent film actress dressed like the circus girl by Lenci 1926,

Marcello Dudovitch design for a Lenci doll outfit

Marcello Dudovich design for a Lenci doll outfit

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Fernanda Fassy, silent screen actress wearing a Lenci inspired dress as seen in the design by Dudovich for Lenci

Thanks to Patrizia for sharing these great photos on her Facebook page: :https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1162931443726682&set=pcb.1162933100393183&type=3&theater

Vintage Photo of Large Lenci Boudoir Doll “Mimi” 1926

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Vintage Photo of Large Lenci Boudior doll of 1926

Vintage Photo of Large Lenci Boudoir doll of 1926

This is an old vintage photo of a Large Lenci lady boudoir doll that is very rare and much wanted by collectors. This particular doll is one of the largest sizes made by Lenci and first appeared in the Lenci Catalog of 1926.
Lenci catalog 1926 This doll came posed in her own chair and was named Mimi. Some collectors call her Marlene Dietrich possibly because the pose reminds us of the movie The Blue Angel (1930). However this doll was on the market in 1926 well before the Blue Angel was made and before Marlene Dietrich was well known outside of Germany so this Mimi doll probably represents a singer or character from the stage from the early 1920’s and from before 1926 when this doll came on the market.Lenci boudior doll 1926

Lenci Dolls of 1936 old catalog pages

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1936 Lenci dolls fedora (2) fedora (1) 1936dollssource  Archivio storico del Comune di Torino
Seen above is the cover of the 1936 Lenci catalog and  some pages showing the dolls of that year, the new surface washable baby dolls were featured, one model is called “Pupo”. These were the depression years and by 1936 the Lenci company had been bought out by the Garella brothers who kept Madame Lenci on as artistic director until she retired,after which she helped her daughter Anili launch her own felt doll manufacturing company.

Lenci Prices: 8 inch Lenci doll sold for $16,000

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Nov 2012, a Italian Felt Miniature Boy with Hobby Horse by Lenci, Series XX 800/1300 fetched $16,000 at auction
Notice the bent knees which are different from the straight legs of the less rare Lenci Mascottes.
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Item Description:
8″ (20 cm.) Felt swivel head with pressed and painted facial features, large round downcast blue eyes, painted long curly lashes, high arched brows, accented nostrils, closed “O”-shaped mouth, blonde mohair short curly wig, jointing at shoulders and hips. Condition: generally excellent, light surface dust. Marks: Lenci (blue-edged cloth tag). Comments: Lenci, the model first appeared in a 21″ size in the mid-1920s named “Carluccio”, and was later released, circa 1931, in this miniature size. Value Points: rare and delightful child wearing his original, felt costume including felt apron with pocket embroidered “Tom”, and with his original paper cap and wooden hobby horse. –
Link to auction listing at proxibid