PAIR OF ORG. GERMAN BISQUE SIGNED ONEILL KEWPIE DOLLS ORIGINAL ARTIST SIGNED ONEILL - "THE THINKER" Start Price USD 300.00 Current Price USD 300.00 Time Left - Bid Count 0 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Wednesday, July 02, 2008 End Time Monday, July 07, 2008 Location Grand Rapids, Michigan See more about 'PAIR OF ORG. GERMAN BISQUE SIGNED ONEILL KEWPIE DOLLS ' Description PAIR OF ORIGINAL SIGNED O'NEILL BISQUE KEWPIE "THE THINKER" DOLLS. German. In excellent condition. No chips, cracks or any defects noted.  The only noted thing is some of the paint has worn on the bottom surface of the one with the eyes pointing  to the right. Both are artist signed. This set was not purchased as a pair, but make a great pair because one's eyes look to the left, and the other look to the right. The one that looks to the left is heavier then the other, and the one that looks to the right has a gold 7 hand painted on the bottom. Otherwise they are the same. 6 1/4 inches high.Listed with out reserve. US shipping $10.00SEE INFO BELOW.The kewpie history (bookrags.com)"Originally appearing in the form of magazine illustrations between 1905 and 1909, Kewpie dolls made their appearance in 1913 in a design patented by Rose Cecil O'Neill (1874–1944). During O'Neill's lifetime, the dolls were a popular novelty item, often associated with carnivals and country fairs, where they were given as prizes. The Kewpie doll is one of the earliest and most successful examples of a mass-marketed toy. It has since become a sought-after collectable and an enduring symbol of "cuteness.""O'Neill's earliest versions of the Kewpies began appearing in the pages of the Ladies' Home Journal between 1905 and 1909 and took the Kewpie name in 1909. In 1910, O'Neill moved her characters to the Women's Home Companion. Three years later, she designed a babylike doll with its characteristic rotund shape and plume of wispy hair. The doll became an instant sensation and its sales made O'Neill a millionaire within a year. Just as Barbie dolls (see entry under 1950s—Commerce in volume 3) would later be dressed as a variety of characters, Kewpies came dressed as cowboys, farmers, bellboys, and firemen, and in the uniforms of U.S., British, French, and German soldiers. There was also a line of black Kewpies known as Hottentots. Besides the dolls, O'Neill created Kewpie images for a wide variety of products like chinaware, picture frames, clocks, greeting cards, wallpaper, and vases. O'Neill also wrote and illustrated a series of Kewpie books as well as a comic-strip version in the mid-1930s.""The Kewpie dolls were originally made of china or bisque (unglazed china). They were manufactured in Europe until World War I (1914–18), when U.S. firms like the Mutual Doll Company began making the Kewpies from a variety of materials, including fabric. To this day, Kewpie dolls remain sought after among doll collectors."  Place a Bid!