Elisabeth Pongratz Baby Doll Vintage 1990




Item History & Price

Information:
Reference Number: Avaluer:10789Country/Region of Manufacture: Germany
Original Description:
This beautiful handmade baby doll with weighted cloth body and wooden hand carved face was made by Elisabeth Pongratz in c. 1990. It is new old stock, handled only by art curators, and in mint condition with wrist tag still on. This doll has been fully packaged and stored for almost all of his thirty year life. I didn’t even know I had him until a week ago when he unexpectedly turned up in a box containing exhibits from a wooden toy design exhibition which belonged to my toy collecto...r father and were sent to me after the exhibition had finished touring a decade ago, some boxes never got unpacked. I have just listed a cloth bodied Pongratz girl doll that turned up in the same box, see separate listing for details.
The colour of the wood on this baby’s face is very pale, unusual for a Pongratz doll of this vintage, since the wood gradually darkens with exposure to light. (I have another Pongratz doll of the same age who was kept on display although never in direct sunlight; in the display doll, the colour of the face looks like a natural tan on Nordic skin, whereas this baby has a much paler complexion.) 
The baby has no scratches, dings, dent or marks. Body and clothing is all in A1 condition, no pulls, threads, balling, holes or any other damage. See photographs for detail. 
Clothes (Red hand-knitted jumpsuit with ribbed cotton undergarment) are original to the doll and have never been removed. He measures 7 1/4” tall. Inside his tag is the letter/number sequence ‘K027’ handwritten in pencil. He has another hand-inked letter/number ‘B841940P on the back of his neck (see pics).
This doll, the cloth-bodied girl doll mentioned above, and a Pongratz wooden boy doll in a blue tunic that I listed and sold recently all came from one shipment direct from Elisabeth Pongratz to my father, a specialist Australian toy importer. He ordered them at Nuremberg on her second appearance at the Nuremberg Trade Toy Fair. He had discovered Pongratz at Nuremberg the year before, the first time she exhibited there, and had brought two dolls home with him which he purchased from her at the Fair. However by the time he ordered these ones she had a large waiting list and I remember the shipment took more than a year to arrive. After that he didn’t order any more because her waiting list had blown out to 3+ years and he was worried about the currency risk (at the time, our currency was sinking and the Deutschmark was very strong). 
I can’t remember the exact year of the shipment, it was approximately 1990-1992. 
Although in absolutely new condition I have listed this item as ‘used’ because it was displayed in a national exhibition of contemporary wooden toy design in 2006. This necessitated very careful unwrapping, display and packing by experienced curatorial staff.  
I have seen pics of other Pongratz babies with little hats. I don’t know if this little man had other clothes with him originally but I doubt it. He has survived so intact that it seems unlikely he would have lost an item of clothing. However I don’t know for sure. Although I worked in dad’s business, and normally saw all stock that came through, I don’t remember this beautiful boy. My guess is that dad socked him away somewhere as soon as he arrived, he would then have remained in storage until dad’s collection was mined for exhibition pieces.
Any questions please ask. A very special find, rare to see an early doll in such perfect condition. Great opportunity to own a beautiful piece from the years when Elisabeth Pongratz herself was the maker of the dolls. The auction has no reserve so it will sell to the winning bidder.




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