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1" Tiny Frozen Charlotte Victorian Bisque Doll Germany** 1 RANDOM PICK**
$ 3.66
- Description
- Size Guide
Description
1" Frozen Charlotte Victorian Frozen Charlotte Doll Listing is for ONE random pickThis listing is for ONE 1" frozen Charlotte- I will pick one at random-
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This listing is for ONE 1" Doll that I will choose at random
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These are AUTHENTIC Frozen Charlottes- Frozen Charlottes do not have jointed limbs- they are almost always broken - they are solid bisque, either with a glossy or matte finish.
Story of Frozen Charlotte
Just who was Frozen Charlotte? These small and almost forgotten antique treasures have a past filled with romance, lost love, vanity, motherly advice ignored and a night gone wrong that ends in tragedy. The tale is captured in an old Folk Fable turned to song in the American Folk Ballard known as "Young Charlotte" by William Carter.
Manufactured as early as 1850, these intriguing bisque/china/porcelain dolls were originally produced as Victorian Bathing Dolls, called Frozen Charlotte; so named from a song about a Victorian era girl who went out dancing with her beau to a ball at a nearby inn. She left without her wrap against her mother's wishes and froze in the snow.
As the story goes, on a piercingly cold, winter night, Charlotte's beau, Charles, picked Charlotte up in his sleigh to attend a ball at the village inn, 15 miles away. Looking lovely, young Charlotte, dressed in her finery, vainly wanted to be seen and admired along the way. She did not listen to her mother's good advice to cover herself with a blanket, refusing even to wear her wrap. By the time she and Charles arrived at the inn, Charlotte was a frozen corpse! The song goes on to say that Charlie soon died of a broken heart and they forever slumber together, in one tomb.
Most of these charming dolls were manufactured by numerous factories in Germany from 1850 to the early 1900s although few bear any identifying marks. Some are marked with incised numbers on their backs similar to those found on larger antique bisque French and German china and bisque dolls. On the larger bathing dolls, marks can sometimes be found on the dolls back or feet bottoms.
In the early Victorian days, the tiniest ones were sometimes baked into children's birthday cakes or Christmas puddings, to be found by the tiny guests as party favors as they bit into their piece of cake!
Smooth wear, just from years of being handled, or mold imperfections under the glaze done in the making are not considered flaws. It is not uncommon for these dolls to be flat rather than shiny on their back and to have some minor roughness there. Also, tiny black specks in and under the glaze that were made during the firing of the piece are considered normal and are to be expected and do not detract from the value. It is rare to find these dolls fully intact, with legs and arms, considering how they were played with and the age.