My Vintage Bleuettes
The study of Bleuette is an on-going process. More is learned about this fascinating little doll every year. Some ideas collectors had about her have been disproved, other facts have been proved, some information is still unknown. No one making and selling these "toys for little girls" could ever have forseen how valuable and sought-after Bleuette would become to adult doll collectors of the 21st century.
The Bleuettes in my collection are mostly vintage, not yet antique, from the 1915 to 1935 time period. Bleuette was made from multiple porcelain head molds and in two heights, 27 cm and 29 cm (10 & 5/8 inches and 11 & 3/8 inches). During WWI and again during the 1930s, when there were material shortages and economic difficulties, Bleuettes were made from "spare parts." Some specific 28cm (11 inches) dolls were assembled in the 1930s. These are the only exceptions to the 27 and 29 cm size.
On this page we'll look at all the Bleuettes in the collection, their marks and other special characteristics. We'll start with their heads, molds, painting, and marks, and later look at bodies.
Recently I was able to add an antique 6/0 Bleuette to my collection--she is on the far right above, and was made from approximately 1905 to 1914. Let's start with her and go on chronologically.
The 6/0 Bleuette is 27 cm, has set blue glass eyes, slant-painted eyelashes, feathered eyebrows, chin dimple, and set-in teeth. She does not have earring holes or red nostril dots. It is believed that her head was made in Germany from a German mold that the German-born director of the SFBJ had brought to the company. She followed the premiere Bleuette when Gautier's initial order from the SFBJ ran out. Many feel this was in 1905, but it has been proved she was definitely in use by 1907.
The 6/0, like the premiere Bleuette, had a cork pate, and a fairly slanted head opening in the French style. She had a mohair wig with either a side part and curls, or wavy bangs and curls.
This Bleuette has a replaced mohair wig and cork pate.
This is the only mark on the head of the 6/0 Bleuette--just the size mark 6/0, six zeros. Sometimes this mark is much larger, sometimes it is accompanied by a small X. This is a German way of designating heads smaller than the German size 0, and that is why the head is thought to have been German made.
Next in chronological order comes the 60 8/0 Bleuette. In this case the 60 is the mold number, and the 8/0 is the size number. The 60 mold was used by the SFBJ for many sizes of dolls beginning in about 1915 and was discontinued after WWII. The 60 8/0 Bleuette was made from 1915 through about 1924. She is probably the most numerous of the Bleuettes. This example is the earliest 60 8/0 Bleuette in the collection, with set blue eyes, slant-painted eyelashes, feathered eyebrows, and set-in teeth.
Next in order is this 60 8/0 Bleuette with blue sleep eyes, slant-painted eyelashes, single stroke eyebrows, and carved-in teeth.
This 27 cm SFBJ 60 8/0 Bleuette comes from about 1920. She was put together after sleep eyes were introduced in 1919, but her head had already been painted as if for the earlier set eyes.
Her human hair wig is a replacement.
Here is the mark of the 60 8/0 Bleuette, who was sold from 1915 until 1933. Researchers speculate that this head mold was made in Germany because of the German size number. You can also see the clear French size 2 body mark.
Several molds were being used at this time. The dating marks began in 1922 with the mark 22. Some 60 8/0 Bleuettes are marked with letters above the SFBJ mark. PR, D, X, Y, and R are known to exist, but it is not yet known what they mean.
Here is one such Bleuette, who has the mark D above the SFBJ 60 Paris 8/0 mark. This 60 8/0 has single stroke eyebrows and painted lower lashes. Unlike the other 60 8/0s, who have slanted eyelashes, her lashes are painted in a straight line downward, exactly like both the 301 Bleuettes. She has carved-in teeth. At one time she had sleep eyes, but now they are set. She has an older, but not original French wig of human hair.
This photo shows the D mark.
Next comes the 301-1 Bleuette. Besides the premiere Bleuette, she is the only one who has earring holes--you can just barely see one of them in her right ear, below. The earring holes lend credence to the idea that her head was French-made. One foot of this doll has a name and what appears to be the date 1915 written on it, but it is more likely she is a little later--from 1919 to 1922.
She has her original pate and mohair wig. Her teeth are molded with her mouth, and she has lip accents and feathered eyebrows. She also has blue threaded sleep eyes. Her painted lower eyelashes are straight, not slanted.
Finally, the last vintage Bleuette is this 301, but a new size and mold which were made after 1932. All Bleuettes made after this date were 29 cm. Her head is marked Unis France (United France) 301 and her size mark is 1 & 1/4, at the base of her neck. She is still marked 2 on the back and 1 on each foot, but her size 1 feet are now smaller, and her legs more slender than the 27 cm Bleuettes. She has a replaced human hair wig, and mohair upper eyelashes, straight-painted lower lashes, and carved-in teeth. See the mark below.
Next is a Bleuette cousin, an SFBJ doll marked 8/0. She is from 1900 to 1914 and has set eyes, slant-painted eyelashes, single stroke eyebrows, set-in teeth, body incised "Made In France," small arms, and a replaced human hair wig. Her mark and body will be shown further on down the page.
Although she has the size 2 body of Bleuette, she has size 2 feet, and is NOT a Bleuette. Bleuette from this time period was marked 6/0 and had size 1 feet or unmarked feet. This doll's feet had been unscrupulously faked to make them look like size 1 feet, but scratching off the daub of painted plaster revealed the proper size 2 mark.
One clue for collectors is to make sure that the feet of Bleuette are slightly concave. If they have been filled with plaster and re-marked, they will be flat or slightly convex.
This is the correct look of a genuine 1-mark on Bleuette's foot. The 1 has a little foot to stand on, and the hook at the top like the 1 in this text.
This 60 8/0 Bleuette is an example of one of the exceptions to the 27 and 29 cm rule. She is a 28 cm "Sale" Bleuette. Like all other Bleuettes, her body is marked 2 on the back and 1 on the soles of her feet. She is one of the "close-out sale" Bleuettes put together of spare heads and slightly taller bodies in the 1930s, after the size of Bleuette had been changed to 29 cm. Her body will be compared to the SFBJ 8/0 further down the page as they both measure 28 cm.
The 6/0 Bleuette's body is marked 1 on each foot (some 6/0s have no mark on their slightly smaller feet) and 2 on the back (often under thick paint). Her hands are different than the other Bleuette's hands, they appear more flat, less curved or cupped.
Her body is slightly thinner than later Bleuettes; some premiere Bleuettes have this more slender body, too.
The half-moon knee cap representation is a defining characteristic of Bleuette's lower legs.
In this photo of Bleuette SFBJ 301-1, you can see how to measure a 27cm Bleuette, from the rim of her porcelain head down to the top of her toes. Her wig and pate are not included.
This photo shows two 27cm Bleuettes next to their taller sister of 29cm.
Here is a back view of the same three Bleuettes. All three are marked 2 on the back and 1 on the feet, but the feet of the 29cm Bleuette are noticeably smaller. Some of the extra 2 cms came from the longer thighs, and some from a taller head. The body is differently shaped, especially at the hip where the legs join. All the post 1933 Bleuettes have this same body. Bleuettes of 27 cm have 5cm long thighs with deep notches below the slots for the stringing.
Here is the 28 cm SFBJ 8/0 cousin. Researchers like Madame Colette Merlen feel that German and French parts were mixed to make dolls during the early years of the SFBJ's production.
Thighs and arms were purchased as lots from German companies. This dolls' lower legs and torso are French made, the torso is stamped "Made in France." Researchers agree that the 6/0 Bleuette head (and this 8/0 head) were made in Germany.
Here is the 8/0 mark and the 2 on the back of this SFBJ doll. The sizes going up and down from zero are particularly German. The mark literally means eight 0s. A French-made doll of 28 cm would have a head marked 2 by the SFBJ, who purchased this sizing system along with many other traditions, molds, equipment, and parts from the Jumeau factory in 1899.
Now compare and contrast these two SFBJ 28 cm dolls. The doll on the left has recently been proved to be a "close-out sale" Bleuette, with 1 marks on the feet, while the doll on the right is the 8/0 shown above who has feet marked 2. Their thighs differ and so do their arms, although they are subtle differences. The "sale" Bleuettes have all the correct markings for Bleuette, they may have any head from 1905 to 1932 (with the exception of the premiere head), and they all have thighs of 6cm with smooth, round tops and no notch or indentation. They may have normal or small arms. They were offered for sale at 5 francs less than the new 29cm model Bleuette, to sell off all the spare parts for 27 cm dolls after the change to the new size Bleuette.
From the side you can better see the difference in thighs and in the size 2 versus the size 1 lower legs. The size 2 bodies are identical.