No. 13

Joy (SFBJ 301)

French Antique Reproduction

Details

Original

SFBJ mold 301 (Paris), 1900s-1920s

Artist

Anna Miller

About this doll

'Joy' wears a burgundy jacket and pleated skirt, a lace collar, a hat trimmed with feathers and ribbon, and black shoes. Anna Miller made her from a reproduction of SFBJ mold 301.

SFBJ 301 is the most widely produced of all French child-face molds, with an open mouth showing four small teeth, glass sleep eyes and mohair lashes.

Background

The SFBJ (Societe Francaise de Fabrication de Bebes et Jouets) was formed in 1899 when the French doll firms Jumeau, Bru and Gaultier joined with the German-owned Fleischmann & Bloedel to withstand the flood of cheaper German dolls. Within a year 2,000 workers were producing 15,000 dolls a day, and the company remained in business until 1958.

Molds 60 and 301 were the SFBJ's standard 'dolly face' child dolls and were also used for the famous 'Bleuette', the doll of a French girls' magazine. The back of the neck of a 301 is incised 'SFBJ 301 Paris' with the size number, and the head sits on a French composition-and-wood jointed body. From 1916 the mark 'UNIS FRANCE' was also used.

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