I have two Goebel figurines that I was told (years ago) were part of a collection Goebel created with International Children in tradition dress. I think they are the “Lithuanian” children – hence the “LT” in the figurine number. (Note: These are NOT MIHummel figurines).
Both are about 4.75″ tall and carry the Goebel Full Bee (stamped) trademark.
The boy carries “LT 8/A” and “42” on the bottom.
The girl carries “LT 8/B” and “43” on the bottom.
I’d like to list these on eBay, but want to first confirm that these are the Lithuania children from that collection.
Thanks, in advance, for any input.
DEHolz
Christopher knows far more than I do; the material I have (e.g. the list of Goebel codes) came mostly from his archive. I was pretty much confused myself until we sat down with a beer:
Goebel did not only produce Hummel-based figures. Next to tons of own designs and series they featured whole series designed by other artists. On top, they also created a large product range under the heading Sacral Art, sold under their SACRART brand.
Non-Hummel figures often show an impressed letter/number combination; these well over 100 different codes are combined series / item codes (e.g. “GR” = Rococo Groups or “OT” = Easter animals).
All Hummel items are based on drawings by Maria Innocentia Hummel; an old German grammar rule results in the replacement I <-> J, thus signature “M.J. Hummel”.
She died 1946 and her Order, the Franciscan Sisters of Siessen, inherited all her belongings and the rights regarding her drawings. The contract regarding gains coming from the sales of Hummel figures had been in favor of the Order anyway. Base reference was that every Hummel figure meant royalties for the Order, thus every Hummel figure had to be marked as such. Logically, there are (and never were) “unmarked” Hummels as that would have been like a death sentence for Goebel. The region is ultra Catholic. Cheating on the Order would have ruined them faster than somebody could say “spilled milk”.
Figures were often re-issued, making the mentioning or close inspection of the used marks a plain must (age/value ratio). A figure with modern mark would often be worth much much less than the first production run, leading to value differences of well above US$500 per figure type around 2005.
As to your question: there are more Goebel items than Hummels, however many Goebel goods – even the Sacrart line – are not seen as or easily identified as such. In addition there is the large amount of idiots for which each Goebel *must* automatically be a Hummel, listing everythin, including even Goebel Sacrart-stickered goods, as “OMG!!! RARE!!! GOEBEL!!! HUMMEL!!!” or similar. Such keyword trash impacts on search results; hundreds of false eBay listings per month simply kick every valid information or item page off the first five search result pages real fast.
