Jumeau
The German doll industry was well established in the mid 1800s. So much so that the French manufacturers often purchased
heads from the Germany companies but differentiated the dolls as “French” by the exquisite costuming contributed by the
couturiers for which Paris was so well known. Consider Voigt’s papier mache known as a French papier mache doll but made
in Germany. Constance King notes that, Rondot, a member of the French Imperial Jury at the Great Exhibition of 1851,
documented that the German dolls had cut heads with cork pates and that only “a few dolls’ heads of porcelain are made in
Paris.”
Pierre Francois Jumeau brought together all of the skills to create a truly French doll. Jumeau and Belton were considered to
have begun making dolls as partners in 1842.
Belton seems to have left the scene and Jumeau, in later publications, notes that he began doll making in 1843. As so many
manufacturers, regardless of industry, Jumeau began with outsources before bringing the complete doll making in house.
Constance King quotes M. Rondot from the Jury of the 1849 Paris Exposition:
M Jumeau …obtains some of the heads from Germany and busts of wax from England; the character heads and carton bodies
are made in Paris and the division of labour has already become such in this industry that the little stockings, shoes, hats, wigs,
flowers, etc. intended for dolls are items of distinct manufacturers…The dressed doll is not only a toy but it often serves,
dressed, as a model and pattern of our fashions, and it has become in these last years an indispensable accessory for every
trip by out makers of novelties to the Americans and the Indies.
As with the chicken and the egg, much ado is given to whether the doll was first to display fashion or was first a toy. From this it
seems that both occurred simultaneously.
Porcelain was not noted to have been used by Jumeau until 1859.
France was late to enter the competitive world of international business. To foster the development of French business, the
marquis d’Aveze began the tradition of fetes or Exhibitions in 1797 to highlight the products of France by inviting the world to
display its wares. Constance King reports that “the 1844 Exposition…was the most splendid arrangement of French industrial
products ever assembled and it was obvious that, though behind Germany and Britain in the first half of the century, France
was making better use of all the advances in machinery and linking this to a great flair for effective design.” Nowhere could this
be seen better than in the dolls of Pierre Francois Jumeau. In 1851, the report of the Exposition states “Prize medal for dolls’
dresses. The dolls on which the dresses are displayed present no point worthy of commendation but the dresses themselves
are very beautiful productions.” In the 1855 report, it was noted that only Germany and France exported toys in significant
numbers. “Each country excels in the special types it has created, thus France distinguishes itself, as always, by the good
taste and elegance of the dolls’ costume.”
Capitalizing on this in an effort to continue business expansion, and utilizing influence of the fashion conscious Empress
Eugenie, in the 1860s the Parisienne, or French fashion lady doll, was preeminent. And preeminent among the makers of such
dolls was Pierre Francois Jumeau.
As early as the 1850s, criticism of the opulence and impracticality of the French dolls as true playthings surfaced. But the
Franco Prussian war ended the excessive opulence. Subsequent to the war in the 1870s, the French industry, literature and
the arts showed a distinct shift in focus from excessive opulence to a more subdued, yet still rich, style. Fashion suddenly
included the bustle. The French doll industry expanded to fill the void left by the absence of German dolls. In 1876, upon the
death of his older brother and the retirement of his father, Emile Jumeau took the reigns of the firm. The firm still produced
leather or wood jointed lady dolls. But by 1878, Emile Jumeau introduced the child head on a chunky body, the Bebe (or child)
doll. This year a gold medal, the Medaille d’Or was awarded to the firm at the Exposition. It was in 1885, at the Antwerp
Exhibition, that Jumeau won the Diplome d’Honneur that was stamped upon the dolls after this date. Succombing to the
pressures of competition, Jumeau joined with other French makers to form the Societe Francaise do Fabrication de Bebes et
Jouets in 1899 (SFBJ). How ironic that SFBJ ultimately used German made heads on the French bodies just as had been done
in the early part of the century in doll making.
Marks used on Jumeau heads, body and shoes
Faces and characteristics
Poupee Peau 1860 on
Poupee Bois
Portrait face fashion
Portrait Jumeau Bebe 1877-1883
Premiere Bebe 1880-
Long faced Triste 1879-1886
EJ Bebe 1881-1886
EJA
Depose EJ (Late period EJ)
Incised Jumeau Depose 1886-1889
Tete Jumeau 1885-1899
Bebe Phonographe 1894-1899
Marked E.D. Bebe 1892-1899
Jumeau Characters 1892-1899
Marked B.L. Bebe 1892-
Marked R. R. Bebe 1892-
1907 Jumeau Child 1907-
#230 Character Child 1910-
Princess Eliazbeth Jumeau 1938 through SFBJ
Bleuette
heads from the Germany companies but differentiated the dolls as “French” by the exquisite costuming contributed by the
couturiers for which Paris was so well known. Consider Voigt’s papier mache known as a French papier mache doll but made
in Germany. Constance King notes that, Rondot, a member of the French Imperial Jury at the Great Exhibition of 1851,
documented that the German dolls had cut heads with cork pates and that only “a few dolls’ heads of porcelain are made in
Paris.”
Pierre Francois Jumeau brought together all of the skills to create a truly French doll. Jumeau and Belton were considered to
have begun making dolls as partners in 1842.
Belton seems to have left the scene and Jumeau, in later publications, notes that he began doll making in 1843. As so many
manufacturers, regardless of industry, Jumeau began with outsources before bringing the complete doll making in house.
Constance King quotes M. Rondot from the Jury of the 1849 Paris Exposition:
M Jumeau …obtains some of the heads from Germany and busts of wax from England; the character heads and carton bodies
are made in Paris and the division of labour has already become such in this industry that the little stockings, shoes, hats, wigs,
flowers, etc. intended for dolls are items of distinct manufacturers…The dressed doll is not only a toy but it often serves,
dressed, as a model and pattern of our fashions, and it has become in these last years an indispensable accessory for every
trip by out makers of novelties to the Americans and the Indies.
As with the chicken and the egg, much ado is given to whether the doll was first to display fashion or was first a toy. From this it
seems that both occurred simultaneously.
Porcelain was not noted to have been used by Jumeau until 1859.
France was late to enter the competitive world of international business. To foster the development of French business, the
marquis d’Aveze began the tradition of fetes or Exhibitions in 1797 to highlight the products of France by inviting the world to
display its wares. Constance King reports that “the 1844 Exposition…was the most splendid arrangement of French industrial
products ever assembled and it was obvious that, though behind Germany and Britain in the first half of the century, France
was making better use of all the advances in machinery and linking this to a great flair for effective design.” Nowhere could this
be seen better than in the dolls of Pierre Francois Jumeau. In 1851, the report of the Exposition states “Prize medal for dolls’
dresses. The dolls on which the dresses are displayed present no point worthy of commendation but the dresses themselves
are very beautiful productions.” In the 1855 report, it was noted that only Germany and France exported toys in significant
numbers. “Each country excels in the special types it has created, thus France distinguishes itself, as always, by the good
taste and elegance of the dolls’ costume.”
Capitalizing on this in an effort to continue business expansion, and utilizing influence of the fashion conscious Empress
Eugenie, in the 1860s the Parisienne, or French fashion lady doll, was preeminent. And preeminent among the makers of such
dolls was Pierre Francois Jumeau.
As early as the 1850s, criticism of the opulence and impracticality of the French dolls as true playthings surfaced. But the
Franco Prussian war ended the excessive opulence. Subsequent to the war in the 1870s, the French industry, literature and
the arts showed a distinct shift in focus from excessive opulence to a more subdued, yet still rich, style. Fashion suddenly
included the bustle. The French doll industry expanded to fill the void left by the absence of German dolls. In 1876, upon the
death of his older brother and the retirement of his father, Emile Jumeau took the reigns of the firm. The firm still produced
leather or wood jointed lady dolls. But by 1878, Emile Jumeau introduced the child head on a chunky body, the Bebe (or child)
doll. This year a gold medal, the Medaille d’Or was awarded to the firm at the Exposition. It was in 1885, at the Antwerp
Exhibition, that Jumeau won the Diplome d’Honneur that was stamped upon the dolls after this date. Succombing to the
pressures of competition, Jumeau joined with other French makers to form the Societe Francaise do Fabrication de Bebes et
Jouets in 1899 (SFBJ). How ironic that SFBJ ultimately used German made heads on the French bodies just as had been done
in the early part of the century in doll making.
Marks used on Jumeau heads, body and shoes
Faces and characteristics
Poupee Peau 1860 on
Poupee Bois
Portrait face fashion
Portrait Jumeau Bebe 1877-1883
Premiere Bebe 1880-
Long faced Triste 1879-1886
EJ Bebe 1881-1886
EJA
Depose EJ (Late period EJ)
Incised Jumeau Depose 1886-1889
Tete Jumeau 1885-1899
Bebe Phonographe 1894-1899
Marked E.D. Bebe 1892-1899
Jumeau Characters 1892-1899
Marked B.L. Bebe 1892-
Marked R. R. Bebe 1892-
1907 Jumeau Child 1907-
#230 Character Child 1910-
Princess Eliazbeth Jumeau 1938 through SFBJ
Bleuette