Among the listing is a rare Rudolf Valentino Lenci doll and Lenci Lady dolls, Lenci googlies, plus rare ethnic Lenci dolls such as the early Chinese Opium Smoker with pipe and two black Lenci dolls, the smaller black doll with grass skirt and the Josephine Baker Lenci seen in the 1926 Lenci catalog. You can see an original 1927 Lenci catalog picture of the Rudolf Valentino Lenci doll in the 1927 Lenci Catalog slide show in the Gallery section.
The Candy Spelling Doll Auction results are online now and Lenci collectors will be interested in the closing prices,especially for the rarely seen Lenci characters. The highest price in the Lenci category went to the later model Lenci character Sam that sold for: $19,000. This may well be a record price for this 1940’s-50’s era remake of the earlier 1925 Sam. This later model Sam is slimmer than the chubby and more child-like earlier Sam of 1925. This model Sam was exhibited in December 1953 at the annual Toy Trade Show in Italy – watch the 1953 archive video clip below or see the entire newsreel at Archivo Luce CLick Here to watch the archive video at archivioluce you can see the 1953 Lenci exhibit at around 0-2-18-20 the on screen counter. Sam is briefly is on the left of the screen at the start of the following clip – see also the screen capture below.
Lenci Sam Original 1925 Lenci Catalog
Compare to the earlier 1925 Lenci Sam which is a standing chubbier child-like doll with more rounded eyes, listed as model 260 at 31 inches tall. He did not have a waistcoat and is made of brown felt. The later Sam is made to be seated like a boudoir doll and is of black felt.
Screen Capture Lenci Toy Trade Show 1953 - Sam is seated on the left
Above is a screen capture from the 1953 Trade Show video, the Lenci Sam is seated to the Left of the screen, this video clip is interesting because it shows some of the larger boudoir dolls that were on sale that year – note the lady doll in black the commentator refers to as “Anna Karenina” and the Spanish Lady with Guitar, Large Russian Dolls and Japanese Costume dolls. This newsreel is a brief but rare glimpse of the Lenci dolls on offer in the early 1950’s – there is no complete Lenci catalog for the 1940s-50s. If you have Marco Tosa’s Book “Bambole Lenci” you can see full color photos of dolls from this era of production. The Lenci Sam on page 155 in the Tosa book has a green Lenci paper tag that was in use during this later period of production – however the date given in the Tosa book refers to the date of the earlier series of 1925.
Below are the Proxibid auction results of the entire selection of Lenci dolls from the recent Candy Spelling Collection auction – the Lenci Sam black boudior doll fetched $19,000 and the Lenci Josephine Baker went for $11,000. this is nowhere near the high prices of some of bisque dolls that were sold but these are high prices for Lenci dolls nevertheless. If you are a collector who buys or sells on eBay the prices for the dolls below is relevant in terms of current market pricing for the rare character dolls and the near mint condition Lenci dolls. If you missed the online auction, you may even get a chance to see some of these dolls again. In the days or weeks following a major auction it is not uncommon to find some of the same dolls listed on eBay for resale. So take note of the prices and bookmark this page for your reference. Scroll down for the details Continue reading →
The above picture is features a shabby old 109 series Lenci doll given a makeover to look like Edith from the Lonely doll books. Her sweater was made from an old ribbed sweater I cut up in 4 parts to make to body and sleeves. The hat I knitted using a photo from the book Edith and the duckling
as a reference. You can buy the pattern for the hat at http://lenci-dolls.com/knit_hat.html or click on the picture above to buy the pattern and download it now.
Edith, The Lonely Doll, is a character in the much loved vintage storybooks by Dare Wright that date from the 1950s. The main character is Edith, an early 109 series Lenci Doll of 1924 see b/w picture below from the 1924 Ars Novita Catalog, that was a childhood doll of Dare Wright’s, one of two Lenci dolls she had kept since her childhood. Her other Lenci was a boudoir doll. Continue reading →
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