Rare antique doll with foot chewed off sells for £52k at auction
A rare antique doll which was nearly thrown in a skip has sold at auction today (6 June) for £52,675.
The Kammer & Reinhardt Walter 102 bisque antique character doll was originally given an estimate of £12,000 to £17,000, but smashed its target.
The doll went under the hammer at Thornaby-based Vectis Auctions' Doll and Teddy Bear sale, with a buyer from Germany losing out to a telephone bid from America.
The doll was consigned to Vectis after the owner nearly put him in the skip when clearing out a house. On second thoughts, they decided to see if they could find out some more information about him and sent some images to Vectis specialist Kathy Taylor.
The vendor said: "The doll belonged to my grandmother who passed away 30 years ago. Since then he has been in my mum's possession."
"He has always lived in the living room on the sofa for as long as I can remember and our late dog chewed his foot off when he was a naughty puppy."
The well-loved doll, who has suffered some damage, is extremely rare and few examples are known to exist. Sculpted by well-known German artist Professor Arthur Lewin-Funcke in about 1910 - although this wasn't known until 1987 - and based on his own children, the doll is from the 100 series. A number have been sold by Vectis in the past, although this particular number, 102 is extremely rare.
