ANTIQUE DOLL: Generally considered to be at least 100 years old. APPLIED EARS: Ears prepared in a mold separately from the rest of the antique doll head and applied during a separate stage. Thought to be a characteristic of an earlier antique doll, although many doll experts feel that it was used for larger sized antique dolls, whether earlier or later. For most antique dolls, the ears are part of the head mold. BEBE: A term of French derivation to denote a french antique doll that has a child-like appearance. The original french meaning was newborn child. Around 1879-1880, when Emile Jumeau starting manufacturing "French Bebes", the term began to refer to a slightly older doll child between the ages of 2 and 8. Jumeau Triste production was focused on this older bebe definition. BISQUE: A ceramic material that has a matte or unglazed surface. In finer antique dolls, it appears almost translucent. It is used for antique doll heads or for all-bisque dolls and is often flesh colored. Earlier antique dolls tend to have paler bisque but there are exceptions. Before 1880, most antique bisque heads were of the shoulder head type, with or without a swivel head. An excellent antique bisque doll head is one without hairlines, cracks, repairs, wig pulls or rubs. More Info on Bisque

COMPOSITION BODY: Composition is a type of material used for antique dolls' heads and bodies. Every company had it's own unique formula for the mixuture but it consisted of items such as wood pulp, glue, sawdust, flour, rags. Minor damage or repair does not affect value. Carefully repaired, recovered, or even repainted bodies are preferable to new ones. Some bodies are worth more than others. A good quality ball-jointed composition body is more valuable than a crude 5 piece or stick type doll body. More about antique composition bodies

DOOR OF HOPE DOLLS: Cornelia Bonnell, an American missionary in China helped to found the Door of Hope Receiving Home in 1901. She was appalled when observing the sale of female servants, by their owners, to wealthy owners for the purpose of becoming concubines. She started the home, with the help of officials, to keep the girls off the streets and help them learn a trade. The girls were taught sewing skills and dressmaking. The Chinese Door of Hope heads and hands (after about 1914) were carved from pearwood by expert woodcarvers from the Ningpo area which was close to Shanghai where the DOH home was first started.  Earlier dolls are distinguished by the absence of hands, and some were also taller than the later dolls. The dolls were then finished by the girls in the Door of Hope home. The heads were attached to stuffed cloth bodies and dressed meticulously to represent various types of Chinese characters, ages and stations. The cloth, silks and cottons were provided by various bearby textile companies. The mission received strong local support with very little money received from overseas. Local police often brought runaways to the home for refuge. Years later, the home was divided into two homes - the Door of Hope Home for older girls and the Love School for girls under 13 years of age. By 1940, 25 different dolls were being produced and others were made on special order. However, production was sporadic as supplies became limited. In 1949, when the Communists took over China, the DOH mission re-located to Taipei, Formosa, but few dolls seem to have been made there. The girls earned from 3 to 5 cents an hour for their work and could complete about one doll a month. It is estimated that in the 48 years the Door of Hope mission existed, less than 50,000 dolls were made. The dolls were made mainly for tourists, but many of the Chinese missionaries distributed them to their own countries including China, England, Australia, the United States, and Africa.

FRENCH DOLLS: Antique French dolls were manufactured by several firms with the most famous being Gaultier, Jumeau, Steiner and Bru. Click the link below for more detailed information about french antique dolls. More About French Antique Dolls