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| 3364 Two Bleuette dolls (left - 1920s, right - 1930) |
The Musée de la Poupée was a private doll museum located in Paris, in a quiet alley in the very crowded Marais district, between the Pompidou Center and the Museum of Jewish Art and History, established in 1994 and closed in September 2017. It contained a permanent collection of more than 500 French dolls (toys, automatons, miniature mannequins, divination dolls and witchcraft figurines), an army of strange beauty that unveils mankind's universal fascination for self representation.
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| 3365 Two Bleuette dolls (left - 1934-1940, right - 1928) |
Made out of cloth, rubber, celluloid, wax, bisque, porcelain, plastic and even human hair, their bodies and their shapes defined an ideal of feminity that fluctuated through the canon of beauty of their era. Sometimes showcased in dioramas that mimic hausmanian cabinets, tea parties or kitchy seashores, the dolls reenact the illusion of life in the most bizarre of ways, stuck in timeless girly stereotypes. One room focused on doll-making and the materials used in dolls. The museum also presented temporary exhibits and lectures.
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| 3366 A Bleuette doll (1941-1946) |
Under the Second Empire, the doll has first represented the lady morphology. These rich and refined lady-dolls are particularly remarquable for their trousseau and accessories reflecting the fashion of their time. First made of wood and composition, they had a bisque (mat porcelain) head and a leather or wood body. In 1878 a new type of dolls appeared at the universal exhibition of Paris: the bisque headed "bebe" that represented from then on the child from 3 to 12 years old.
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| 3367 Three Bleuette dolls (1946) |
The "bebe's" birth is related to the incredible international development of French doll and toy industry. In 1899 the most important French doll makers associated through the SFBJ - Société Française de fabrication de bébés et jouets - in order to fight against the foreign competition and mainly the German one. The SFBJ production is outstanding for the exceptional series of "character bebes" with expressive faces and child or even baby bodies.
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| 3368 Baby doll (1930s) |
During the roaring twenties, new materials have been used in the doll industry : celluloïd, composition, papier-mâché, cloth, felt... Simoultaneously a new morphological type of doll raised on the market : the soft body baby representing the new born with a bald big head with side glancing eyes looking very realistic. Chidren's magazines also promoted dolls given as a gift such as Bleuette of La Semaine de Suzette which is probably the most famous with her rich trousseau that could be bought already made or could be sewn by little girls from the patterns published in the magazine.
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| 3369 A Bleuette doll |
During the second part of the 20th century, new plastic materials appeared in the doll industry and all the other ones were abandoned. On the other hand, the variety of the dolls of that era is amazing : classic dolls, baby dolls, brand new fashion dolls, soft body babies, caricature or funny dolls. The main firms still using celluloïd or rhodoïd at that time are Raynal, Petitcollin, Nobel, Convert, Urika, Marechal. The ones imposing with new plastic materials are Bella, Gégé, Clodrey and later Corolle. In 1951 the lady magazine Modes & Travaux sold its own dolls for which patterns were published monthly in order to dress them.
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| 3370 A Bleuette doll (1927-1933) |
Created by two passionate collectors, Guido and Samy Odin, father and son, the establishment has never benefited from any state subsidy or private aid, and closed its doors due to financial difficulties. After the closure of the museum, Samy Odin found new operating solutions in the same field. He continued to activated as specialist in ancient dolls, antiquarian dealer, author and speaker, as well as organizer of occasional exhibitions and events related to his specialties, under a new structure named Cherubim, which popularize the culture in the various representations of childhood, from yesterday to today.
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| 3371 A Bleuette doll (1930) |
From the installation of exhibitions all over the world to the purchase and sale of dolls and any other collectible object with a childlike image, from the organization of conferences, seminars and workshops to the proposal of trips and stays study for an informed public. But also the expertise of dolls, toys, old papers and specialized books, the publishing of reference books and articles, the writing of sales catalogs, up to coaching for collectors.
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