GUEST: This doll is my grandmother's doll. We only were allowed to view it on holidays. She kept it in a box on the closet shelf. She received it from a family that she had worked for when she was a teenager and never let us touch it, and like today was probably the first time I've touched it... (laughs) ...in ever.
APPRAISER: And where do you keep it at home?
GUEST: It's in a box in tissue paper on my closet shelf.
APPRAISER: Uh-huh. The doll is a German doll. It's made by a company called Kammer & Reinhardt. And Kammer & Reinhardt were a very popular, prolific doll company in Germany. They started making dolls in the 1880s and made dolls up until the 1920s, 1930s. Your doll was made about 1915, and it was a period when they were making what we call character dolls.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Where dolls ended up having expressions molded into the bisque, rather than just a little smile and teeth and open and close mouth. Okay. The expression is what we refer to as a pouty expression. There were a series of dolls that we call "Pouties," and this company made maybe 20 different expressions. What's very wonderful about your doll is she's very original and complete. The white dress would have been her factory dress, the shoes are original and her underwear are all also original. This doll is marked.
GUEST: Oh, yeah.
APPRAISER: There's the K, Jewish star R, and 114.
GUEST: Okay.
APPRAISER: Most people think these wigs are human hair, but they're actually mohair made from goat's hair.
GUEST: Oh, okay.
APPRAISER: On the retail market today your doll would sell for approximately $2,500 to $3,000.
GUEST: (chuckles) Really?
APPRAISER: Really.
GUEST: Oh, my God.
APPRAISER: So your grandmother may have known something many years ago when she said only look at it. But it’s just, I thank you so much for bringing it, it's just...
GUEST: Oh, my God.
APPRAISER: ...an excellent example of this doll, and it's all original and I just think it's great.
GUEST: Thank you.
APPRAISER: I don't know if you could tell from my expression when you...
GUEST: (voice breaking) Well, I knew it must have been special, but I didn't think it would be that special. (chuckles) (sniffles) (chuckles) I would have never dreamed that.
