Brief Bio and Original A. Marque

Albert Marque was born in France in 1872. He made dolls in the early 1900’s. Albert Marque dolls are the rarest, most expensive, most coveted dolls in the world. He did not make many dolls, and his dolls sell for $350,000.

Reproduction A. Marque

In 1990, I purchased a Seeley A. Marque mold, and made many dolls during that Xmas season. If you ever thought of making a doll, think twice, and making an A. Marque, think trice. These dolls are fully jointed, and complicated not only to assemble but to pour and clean. The A. Marque is one of the most exquisite porcelain dolls in the doll market (or at least that is my humble opinion). When painting an A. Marque face, you have to pay close attention to the heavy eyebrows in the original doll as well, as their full lips. One of the most gorgeous boy dolls, I have ever seen is Andre. He has wonderful mohair hair, and beautiful clothing. You can purchase on Ebay a reproduction A. Marque, made with the Seeley mold, from 30.00 to 500.00, depending on the artist. The true A. Marque is 21" tall, some reproductions are only 17" tall. I have seen some gorgeous A. Marque's in doll shows, and now on Ebay, the most beautiful boy doll resembling Andre is made by the Franklin Mint, he is approximately the correct size. Other makers of this gorgeous doll are Emily Hart (her work is fabulous), Patricia Loveless (who has made one reproduction doll for HSN, and some original large dolls for customers on demand), the heirloom reproduction doll is also a very nice replica of Andre. Remember Andre was dressed as a little country boy, you won't find him reproduced any where. There are many girl A. Marque's available from wonderful artists, some come with composition bodies, others with cloth bodies, and others all porcelain or bisque. Make sure when you buy this gorgeous doll that it is as close to the real A. Marque as possible.

After making 18 A. Marque dolls one Xmas, on consignment and for family members. I decided to leave the art of making porcelain dolls to the true doll maker. If you want a challenging doll to reproduce, try to get the A. Marque mold from Seeley (I think you can still purchase it). Don't bother with the porcelain body, make it easy on yourself, and purchase Seeley's compo body, it will certainly make your life much easier...

If you are new to collecting gorgeous French porcelain dolls, check out the A. Marque, not many of us can own the original, but a wonderful reproduction will do just as well.