Those all-bisque dolls were made in Japan

DEAR B.L.: All-bisque dolls such as these are sometimes called "immobile" because they have no moving parts. Other all-bisque dolls do have moving parts (heads, legs, arms) and these are generally more desired than the "immobile" or "frozen" variety.

In the case of the dolls shown here, each is hand painted. But care must be taken because these pigments were not fired on and will rub off easily with careless handling and cleaning. Fortunately, the pieces in this 10-piece set appear to be in excellent condition - almost as if they have never been played with or removed from the box.

Vintage all-bisque dolls are typically less than 12 inches tall and were made in a very wide range of quality. The best were usually made in either France or Germany, but the very finest ones are usually attributed to France. These have glass eyes, jointed arms and legs, moveable heads, closed mouths and graceful bodies.

In addition, these dolls characteristically have molded-on footwear with painted socks or stockings and some are marked with initials such as "E.D." or "F.G." Most are in the 5- to 7-inch tall range, and top examples are valued in the $1,000 to $3,000 range.

The step down from this type of high quality all-bisque doll can be very precipitous in monetary values. As a rule, these are German- or Japanese-made dolls and the most immediate thing to notice on many of them is that the heads are stationary and the quality is not quite as exacting as it is for the French-made dolls. However, some of the German all-bisque dolls do have swivel heads, and these can be some of the most expensive in this category.

An example of this might be "Baby Bo-Kay" made by Alt, Beck & Gottschalck for George Borgefeld.

The 5-inch size with swivel neck and sleep eyes is valued at around $2,000 in great condition. Another case in point is "Max and Moritz," which are characters from the Wilhelm Busch children's books. A 4-1/2 inch tall pair of these with jointed neck, shoulders and hips should be valued for around $2,200.

All-bisque dolls with painted eyes and molded hair seldom sell for more than a few hundred dollars unless they are very rare and special. Japanese all-bisque dolls are seldom expensive unless they are something like a boxed set of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" ($700) or "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" ($350).

The charming set belonging to B.L. has some desirable pieces in it such as the Native American and the cowboy. The other dolls appear to be a Dutch boy and girl, an Asian boy and girl and some others whose origins are not quite discernable to us.

Since these dolls are marked "Japan," they were made after 1921, and we feel they were probably manufactured in the 1925 to 1935 time frame.

For insurance replacement purposes, this charming set of all-bisque dolls should be valued at $150 to $200.

(Helaine Fendelman and Joe Rosson are the authors of the "Price It Yourself" (HarperResource, $19.95). Questions can be mailed to them at P.O. Box 12208, Knoxville, TN 37912-0208.)

SHNS