Doll Chewed by Dog Sells for Three Times Its Estimate

Have you ever claimed “My dog ate my homework”? How about “My dog ate my antique”? A family in the United Kingdom was cleaning out their mother’s house and found a familiar bisque-headed doll that was originally their grandmother’s. They remembered seeing the doll sitting on their mother’s sofa—and how the family dog, as a puppy, chewed off one of the doll’s feet! The family decided to sell the doll through Vectis Auctions, an English auction house that specializes in toys. Even with its missing foot, the doll is a valuable one. Its head is marked with a K and R for doll company Kammer & Reinhardt, and with its mold number, 102. Kammer & Reinhardt started in 1886 in Germany and designed bisque doll heads and composition or kid doll bodies. The heads were often manufactured by other doll companies like Simon & Halbig. Kammer & Reinhardt dolls are rare, and Vectis Auctions gave the doll an estimate of £12,000 to £17,000 (about $15,000 to $21,000 USD). It sold in their Internet-only Dolls & Teddy Bears auction for over three times the high estimate: £52,675—about $65,850 USD!

The Kammer & Reninhardt 102 doll, still valuable with a chewed-off foot. Photo: Vectis Auctions