Armand Marseilles and Ernst Heubach
A classic example of porcelain “families” includes the Marseilles and Huebach factories in Koppelsdorf in the Sonneberg
region of Germany.
Armand Marseilles bought his factory in 1885 making doll heads there in 1890. The two most popular molds were variations of
the same doll: the 370 is a shoulder head and the 390 is a socket head. By 1892, Marseilles made heads for Cuno & Otto
Dressel then George Borgfeldt & Co., Louis Wolf & Co. Louis Amber & Son, Gebruder Eckardt, Hugo Wiegand, Otto Gans, C.
M. Bergmann, E. Maar & Son, Seyforth & Reinhardt and Peter Scherf. His son, Hermann took over the company in 1917
subsequent to suffering a heart attack.
Daughter Beatrice had married Ernst Heubach’s son in 1915 combining the two companies into one family. Each continued
their individual production though. The combined factories were called United Koppelsdorf Porcelain factories. This merger
ended in 1928. Subsequent to WWII, the Marseilles company was nationalized as VEB United Porcelainworks Koppeldorf
from 1950 to 1964. By this time the products were household porcelain.
Three dolls were particularly noteworthy from these firms. The “Schieler” (Googly), and after 1900, the truly modeled baby
doll on a bent limb baby body and the toddler doll with the unique 5 piece toddler body. The advantage of these new molded
five piece bodies was the ease of stringing-with fewer joints it was possible to string the bodies faster.
region of Germany.
Armand Marseilles bought his factory in 1885 making doll heads there in 1890. The two most popular molds were variations of
the same doll: the 370 is a shoulder head and the 390 is a socket head. By 1892, Marseilles made heads for Cuno & Otto
Dressel then George Borgfeldt & Co., Louis Wolf & Co. Louis Amber & Son, Gebruder Eckardt, Hugo Wiegand, Otto Gans, C.
M. Bergmann, E. Maar & Son, Seyforth & Reinhardt and Peter Scherf. His son, Hermann took over the company in 1917
subsequent to suffering a heart attack.
Daughter Beatrice had married Ernst Heubach’s son in 1915 combining the two companies into one family. Each continued
their individual production though. The combined factories were called United Koppelsdorf Porcelain factories. This merger
ended in 1928. Subsequent to WWII, the Marseilles company was nationalized as VEB United Porcelainworks Koppeldorf
from 1950 to 1964. By this time the products were household porcelain.
Three dolls were particularly noteworthy from these firms. The “Schieler” (Googly), and after 1900, the truly modeled baby
doll on a bent limb baby body and the toddler doll with the unique 5 piece toddler body. The advantage of these new molded
five piece bodies was the ease of stringing-with fewer joints it was possible to string the bodies faster.
Armand Marseilles Just Me and Steiff Bear