This year has been an exciting year for antique doll collectors, with the first dolls ever to break the $300,000 price barrier at auctions.
In fact, a new world’s record was just set for the most expensive doll ever sold at auction, but you probably haven’t heard about it, since lately the mainstream media is only interested in reporting about scary dolls, or dolls in horror movies like Annabelle. However, thanks to my son’s roommate at Wesleyan University who is a collector following Artnet News, I found out early this week about the new record for the most expensive doll ever sold at auction.
The new world record-setting doll was sold at Bonham”s on September 24 for £242,500, which is approximately $394,000. The doll is a German character doll by Kammer & Reinhardt. It has an unknown mold number which has been speculated to be an experimental mold.
Until the sale of this doll, the world record for highest price for a doll sold at auction was held by Theriault’s for the sale of a French character doll by Albert Marque which sold in March of this year. That doll was from the Puppenmuseum Stein am Rhein, a doll museum in Switzerland, and was #27 of the 100 examples of that doll known to have been made. That doll sold for $300,000.