Perhaps one of the most beautiful bisque dolls is the Heinrich Handwerck.
Although a Antique German doll, the Heinrich Handwerck 109 has a definite "French" appearance.
An excellent quality bisque, Handwerck dolls were manufactured circa 1876 through the early 1900's. The Handwerck factory was acquired by Kammer & Reinhardt after the death of Heinrich Handwerck in 1902.
 Kammer & Reinhardt with original mohair wigThe Handwerck is frequently found on a ball jointed composition body marked Handwerck also.
Doll companies often purchased parts and bodies from other manufacturers, so it is not unusual to find an original antique
German doll with an unmarked body.
 Heinrich
Handwerck, mould 109 with new human hair wig
Marked '109 7 1/2 Germany Handwerck' on the back of the head. Blue glass eyes, open mouth with 4 upper teeth, painted upper and lower lashes and pierced ears. Original jointed composition body, with 'Germany 1 1/4' stamped on it.
 18 inches tall Heinrich Handwerck Simon & Halbig.
Composition body, pierced ears and crystal and pearl earrings.
 29 inches tall Heinrich Handwerck Simon & Halbig Antique Doll
Bru Jne & Cie 1866-1899. Paris and Montreuil-sous-Bois, France.
The Bru doll line included Bébé's with unbreakable bodies of kid. Dressed and undressed dolls. 
 French Bisque Bébé Bru Jne. 3
in original couture outfit and shoes, Marked Bru Jne 3 (on head and shoulders). 13 ½". Bisque swivel head on kid-edged bisque shoulder plate, blue paperweight eyes with spiral threading, dark eyeliner, painted lashes, feathered and brush stroked eyebrows, shaded nostrils,
closed mouth with modeled detail between shaded and accented lips, pierced ears, original blonde human hair wig over cork pate, original kid body with scalloped upper edge, kid-over-wooden upper arms, hinged elbows, bisque forearms and hands, slender torso with gusset joints at hips and knees, wears original couture frock of pale blue silk and plaid silk with gauze lining, original dark leather shoes incised Bru Jne.
Paris 3, blue silk bonnet.
Bru - The Bru Co., located in Paris, top of the list of French doll makers, founded in 1866.
Bru was the first doll manufacturer to be settled on the Rue Saint Denis. Later other doll makers followed.
Early Bru dolls were beautifully formed, delicate molded heads. Dolls had slightly raised bust.
The earliest Bru bodies were made of goatskin. They had bisque lower arms and beautiful hands. Lower legs
were usually made of wood.
Early Bru dolls were not always marked. BS possible to indicate dolls of this type and origin.
Early Bru dolls were marked with an incised circle or half circle and a dot; commonly you find incised on back of shoulder B Jne. & Cie.; and E. Depose was incised on the front.
In 1898, since French companies worked together many Bru dolls were marked more than once.
 10.5 in. tall Bru Brevete Bébé - Bru Jne & Cie, Paris
Pressed bisque swivel head on bisque shoulder plate, kid body w/bisque lower arms, skin wig, stationary blue-grey eyes, closed mouth, pierced ears, oval sticker on chest, shoe stamped w/"B & G" on sole.
New outfit, faint peppering on forehead, skin wig not removed.
Bru dolls, both fashion and lady, were assembled by Leon Casmir Bru and his wife Appolyne on St. Denis Street in Paris. The heads were made by Barrois. Leon Casmir Bru had worked for a doll assembler for a short time before deciding to start his own business.
Appolyne, a seamstress, provided the elaborate costumes for the fashion dolls, which were unmarked except for the letters on the head. Later lady dolls
were marked B. Jne et Cie, B.J. or R.B. (Barrois).  Bru Jne Bébé 6
with brown paperweight eyes, a protruding upper lip and a closed mouth with molded tongue, on a Chevrot body with wooden lower legs, kid leather over metal upper arms, and bisque forearms.
Bru also sold bisque heads either as replacements for those that had been broken.
By 1883 the firm of Bru Jne & Cie was passed on to H. Chevrot and produced many wonderful designs of Bru Jne.
The company name changed to Bru Jne. & Cie., and stands for Bru Jeune ( = Junior) and Co.
Under Chevrot's leadership Bru dolls won many gold medals.
Some Bru dolls threw kisses when a string was pulled
and some were advertised as
"walking and talking".
The last owner of the Bru Company, Paul Girard, took over in 1890.
By 1899, Bru had become part of the Societé Francaise de Fabrication de Bébé's et Jouet (SFBJ). 
 Bébé Bru Jeune with tongue. 18 in. (46cm) tall, from 1884, on a Chevrot body.
Bisque swivel head on bisque shoulder plate with modeled breasts and shoulder blades, beautifully modeled bisque hands, wooden legs with original finish.
Amber paperweight glass inset eyes, thick dark eyeliner, richly painted
lashes. Modeled brush stroked and multi-feathered eyebrows, accented eye corners, shaded nostrils. Closed mouth with molded tip of tongue between shaded, outlined lips, dimpled chin and lip corners. Pierced ears with pearl earrings.
Original long blond mohair wig over original cork pate. Original head attachment. Costumed in a couture made outfit, bonnet, underwear and antique marked Jumeau shoes.
 
 Beautiful Jumeau Bru ( I don't think the outfit is original but a beautiful copy )
The findings are that genuine dolls may have a "Jumeau" marked body with a Bru marked head.
In joining the S.F.B.J. Group (Societé Francaise de Fabrication de Bébé's et Jouets,) the French companies no longer produced bisque or porcelain heads themselves. It was less expensive to import pieces from Germany than to manufacture their own. In the business, they did not change the long used French neck mark. They
paid commissions and continued as designers and trendsetters.
Francois Gaultier has a reputation to have manufactured elegant and exquisite bisque French dolls.
Gaultier produced doll heads for several well known doll companies such as Gesland, Jullien, Rabery & Delphieu, Simonne, and Thiller.
Gaultier's factory was located in St. Maurice and Charenton in the province of Seine, on the outskirts of Paris, France in 1860. Francois Gaultier continued doll making until 1916 with the later years joining the S.F.B.J. (Societé Francaise de Fabrication de Bébé & Jouets).
A Bébé by Francoise Gaultier is much more difficult to locate than a Poupée de Modes doll.
The Bébé's are characterized by their pale complexion, delicate shadowed eyelids, large wide set lustrous paperweight eyes, fine lined in black, plump cheeks (like Bru) fully outlined and parted lips.
Gaultier made the following dolls:
Fashion Type Poup'ee de Mode, Glass eyes;
Fashion type Poup'ee de
Mode, Painted eyes;
Block Letter Bébé, Composition body;
Block letter Bébé, Kid body; Scroll Mark, Closed Mouth,
Exceptional; and Open Mouth Bébé.
Doll sizes range from size 8 to 35 inches tall.
The 8 inch size doll is only found with the Scroll Mark.
E. Gesland - 1860 to 1928.
Gesland produced, exported, distributed and repaired bisque dolls.
Gesland advertised from his Paris office that he could repair dolls in ten minutes all Bébé's and dolls of all makes and also he could replace broken heads. Now Gesland purchased his bisque heads from F. Gaultier, Verlingue, Rabery & Delphieu, and others.
Gesland's profit was the early dolls that had remarkable body features.
Their bodies and limbs frame was steel covered in tin. The joints of dolls were riveted to articulate movement. The doll's framework was wrapped with 'kapok or cotton' to have a natural shape plus covered with stockinette or fine lambskin. The doll's hands and feet were either delicate detailed bisque or painted wood. These dolls could be
posed in many lifelike positions in display.
Most of Gesland's dolls were marked with the Gesland stamp or label.
The doll's height ranged from 10 inches to 31 inches. There was only one 10 inch doll and it was a Bébé.
Gesland produced the following type dolls:
Early Poupeé de Mode, Gesland Body;
Later Poupeé de Mode, Gesland Body,
the Bébé; and
the Beautiful Face doll that came in
heights of 14", 15", 21", and 25". |
patterns for antique bisque dolls 
