No. 06

E.U.St. (Edmund Ulrich Steiner)

German Antique Bisque Doll

Details

Designed / distributed by

Edmund Ulrich Steiner (Sonneberg, Germany and New York)

Type

German antique (original or reproduction to be confirmed)

Body

Kid leather body

Period

1894-1916 (period of E.U.St. dolls)

About this doll

A blonde doll in a blue floral dress with a white apron. The bisque head is set on a kid-leather body, the classic construction of German dolls in the late nineteenth century.

The 'EUST' of the collection record stands for 'E.U.St.', the initials of Edmund Ulrich Steiner. His dolls are identified by a diamond-shaped mark containing these initials.

Background

Edmund Ulrich Steiner (1858-1916) was born in Sonneberg, held both German and American citizenship, and worked in New York as a doll designer and importer. He was employed by major toy importers such as E.I. Horsman, Louis Wolf & Co. and Samstag & Hilder, and is said to have crossed the Atlantic 84 times in his life.

In 1902 he registered the trademarks 'Majestic' and 'Liliput' (in use since 1894). His best-known doll, the 'Majestic', has an open mouth with four teeth, glass sleep eyes, a mohair wig and a kid body with bisque arms. In the same year he received a U.S. patent for a walking and sitting doll. Since he did not run a porcelain factory of his own, the factory that produced his heads has not been established in the literature.

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