Barbara and Stanwood Schmidt Collection To Be Auctioned

The James D. Julia auction house in Fairfield, Maine is auctioning the Stanwood and Barbara Schmidt collection of over 500 antique dolls on November 6. The Schmidts were from Eureka, California.

The Scmidts were very eclectic collectors, and the auction will include 6 early wood dolls, 35 French Fashion Ladies, 19 Jumeau child dolls (as well as many other French child dolls), German dolls, Door of Hope dolls, and much more.

The following is from Jan Foulke, in more detail about the collection and the Scmidts:

"Barbara Schmidt was a warm and witty, yet dignified lady active in community affairs. She was an avid bridge player, but a closet doll lover, until she discovered other bridge-playing ladies who were also interested in dolls. These ladies began weekend antiquing jaunts looking for dolls. They all chipped in on a subscription to the Antique Trader to peruse the doll columns, and they passed it around every week. So dolls started as a small hobby for Barbara, a few inexpensive composition dolls lead to a few more expensive German dolls. This lead to the first big purchase, a French fashion lady, which was bought on layaway so that her husband wouldn’t find out about it until it was paid for, but to her surprise, her husband became quite interested in dolls as well. Thus doll collecting became their shared passion.

Dr. Stanwood Schmidt was a giant of a man, a world-renowned urologist, who made several important discoveries in his specialty of vasectomy and its reversal. He traveled around the world to lecture on his procedures and train other doctors. Stan grew orchids in his own greenhouse, and was very active in the Eureka community, especially in the preservation of the redwoods and the founding of the Fort Humboldt Logging Museum. His keen sense of humor is well illustrated by the face that both his office and home were located on “P” Street. His witty anecdotes and jokes made him a sought-after dinner companion; that is, when we wasn’t hosting the event.

Barbara and Stan’s interest in antique dolls lead them to a local doll club in Eureka where they became very active. They joined the Doll Collectors of America and often traveled to their annual meetings in Rockport, Massachusetts. They never missed the annual United Federation of Doll Clubs meetings, where there they participated in the doll competitions and Stan became involved in judging. They developed friendships with other collectors from around the world. Stan loved auctions, so he would approve the idea of their collection being sold in such a manner. He was very active and quite competitive in bidding both nationally and internationally, as he sought ever more rare and elusive dolls for the collection. His quest to find the perfect doll as a present to surprise Barbara was his delight, and he always had several stashed away at his office, just in case. When the Schmidts ran out of space for dolls in the house, they converted their 3-car garage into a “party room” and filled it with doll cases. With the extra space, they could often host not only their local Eureka doll club, but also invite other clubs to visit and talk and study dolls with them. Stanwood Schmidt passed away in March 1999, and Barbara in March 2003.

The “star” of the Schmidts’ collection is a 17th Century William & Mary period wood doll purchased at auction in London for $100,000, for which Stan had to outbid a London museum. The collection contains 5 other early wood dolls, including a very early and important Queen Anne doll and a rare French court hermaphrodite. The collection is particularly strong in French child dolls, with at least 6 A.T.s, 3 Hs, 19 Jumeaus, 9 Steiners, 6 Schmidts, 9 Brus, 6 P.D.s, 3 B.M.s, 8 Ms, as well as examples marked R.D., P.G., B.F., H.A., F.R., F.G., Gesland, J.M., Jullien, and a very rare Pan. There are approximately 35 French fashion ladies, representing a wide variety of makers, including Gesland, Bru, Huret, Rohmer, and very rare black and Asian models. For collectors of Black dolls, there is a very important French Van Rosen character in all original Marquis costume, as well as outstanding S & H 1358 and 1368 characters and French children. German character dolls are represented by rare and desirable K & R models 101, 102, 107, 109, 114, 117 and Max & Moritz, the elusive Bruno Schmidt “Wendy,” 2 Fany dolls, and 8 Gebruder Heubach characters, including both pouty and smiling models, and a few Googlies, one being an outstanding large A.M. 253 with original wardrobe. German ladies are represented by a large group of Parian dolls, as well as flapper models by Dressel, S & H, and A.M. For lovers of early dolls, there are 20 English and German wax models, 10 French and German papier-mâché’s, 20 German and French chinas, and an American cloth Izannah Walker.

The Schmidts were eclectic collectors, as evidenced by their wonderful selection of mint Door of Hope wood dolls and a rare American composition Fam-Lee Doll with 13 different heads. They appreciated the work of contemporary American artists, and had examples of 12 portrait dolls by Dewees Cochran, 13 of Martha Thompson’s beautifully sculpted shoulder head dolls, 6 Lewis Sorensen wax dolls, and 16 exquisite miniatures by Eunice Tuttle. Dolls by Kathy Redmond and other artists are also represented.

This is such a varied collection that there is literally something for everyone who loves antique or artist dolls. Barbara loved all dolls, as shown by one of her last purchases, two American Girl dolls with all their accessories, which will be given to her granddaughters. Although there are many outstanding and expensive dolls in the Schmidt collection, there are also dolls in popular price ranges – SFBJ characters and children, Liberty of London Coronation Dolls, 8 Sashas, black composition Scootles, German bisque babies and girl dolls, china and papier-mâché dolls."

Contact Andrew Truman at (207) 453-7125 or juliatoy@juliaauctions.com for complete details and catalog. Special hardcover catalog for this collection: $45. Includes prices realized, mailed approximately 3-4 weeks after the auction