Simon and Halbig
Simon and Halbig produced bisque dolls in the Waltershausen area of Thuringia, Germany from 1869 to 1914. They made heads with their own
mark as well as heads for many firms including Jumeau, Roullet & Decamps and Daspres in France as well as Kammer & Reinhard in Germany.
Unlike the Kestner factory that made heads and bodies, this factory made only bisque heads, arms and legs that were attached to other
companies’ bodies. Therefore, other than all-bisque dolls, Simon and Halbig technically did not make dolls but doll parts.
Jan Foulke notes:
Other porcelain factories in the Waltershaussen area in addition to Simon & Halbig were J.D. Kestner ...Kling & Co. Bahr and Proschild, Alt, Beck
& Gottschalck and Limenauer Porzellanfabrik. Doll producers in the area who did not make their own heads were Franz Schmidt, Bruno Schmidt,
C. M. Bergmann, Kammer & Reinhardt, Heinrich Handwerck, Catterfelder Puppenfabrik, Konig & Werncke, Kley & Hahn and Max Handwerck.
With so many companies located in such a small area, there was apparently much trading off between factories of molds and personnel. A
producer who owned a mold might at different times have it made in different porcelain factories, whichever one could get the job done the
fastest at the best possible price. Sculptors, mold makers, decorators and artists probably at one time or another worked for several different
establishments accounting for so many similarities of design and execution.
Simon and Halbig factory made porcelain heads for K*R’s 100 series character among other dolls, including the dolly face, for K*R; Columbia
and Eleanore for C. M. Bergmann; Old Glory for Adolf Wislizenus; heads for Hugo Wiegand; Heinrich Handwerck and Wiesenthal, Schindel.
Mary Krombholz notes:
A number of Sonneberg doll factories used Simon & Halbig heads, including Carl Berger (double- and multi-face dolls), Cuno & Otto
Dressel…Louis Lindner & Sohne…and Welsch & Co. The Simon & Halbig mold numbers 719 and 917 were used on the Edison Phonograph
Doll. The swimming doll Ondine was registered in 1890. Mold number 1249 (Santa), registered in 1898, was made for the Berlin doll factory
Hamburger & Co. Mold numbers 1180, 1295, 1296, 1297, 1298, 1299, and 1310 were made for the Franz Schmidt & Co. doll factory in
Georgenthal. The factory also made bisque heads for Carl Trautman…and R. Eekhoff.
She also notes that the factory made heads for SFBJ. The heads usually contain the word DEP and mold numbers 1039, 1078 or 1079.
Though the demand for bisque head dolls, and the means to manufacture them, dropped dramatically with the World Wars, the skills and molds
could still be used. Ciesliks note that sculptors from Simon & Halbig produced molds for Keramisched Werk GmbH, a producer of papier mache
and composition in 1943.
Simon & Halbig were themselves a company, and a family, formed by individuals trained by and with interests in multiple doll families and
businesses. Carl Halbig was a director of the Alt, Beck, & Gottschalk factory. Halbig married the widow Gattschalk before founding the Simon &
Halbig factory in 1869. Both the new wife and Wilhelm Simon provided funding for the business.
The factory produced dolls with all variations of eye and mouth treatments. They produced heads with painted eyes, stationary glass eyes and
sleep mechanisms. The patents held by the company for sleep eyes included: open/close, flirty and a combination of open/close and flirty eyes.
Mouth painting included those with closed mouths as well as those with open/closed mouths and teeth showing. Dolls produced by this factory
also included open mouths with inserted or molded teeth. S&H dolls also frequently had pierced ears: first through the ear into the head, second
through the earlobe and finally later dolls have the ears pierced low through the lobe. S&H were noted for their early molded heads with hair and
ornaments molded with the head. Later heads included those with and without cuts in the crown. Sometimes, the same model can be found with
solid heads as well as cut crowns. No specific reason has been identified for the differences but several points may influence the making of the
head. Cut crowns facilitated the placement of eyes as well as decreased the weight, decreasing the import/export duties assessed by weight.
Heads without crown cuts decreased the labor necessary. This creativity and artistic execution contributed “character” to the faces of S&H dolls
long before the character movement began in 1910.
As with business in general and dolls in particular, the earlier products were of higher quality than the products produced for survival in the later
highly competitive markets.
Dolls with Simon and Halbig marks show many variations in the marks. Some of the variations include:
Mold numbers along with the initials SH or the name spelled out are found on the heads. Unlike the French doll heads, head mold numbers and
shoulder plate numbers do not match. Head mold numbers are numerous, but two shoulder plate numbers have been found. They are 941 and
1061 and may be located on either the front or the back of the shoulderplate. Sometimes the initials DEP are included indicating that the mold
was registered. The country of origin my also be incised as well as a size number for that head. Sometimes, such as with K*R, the name of the
manufacturer for whom S&H made the head will be incised as well.
mark as well as heads for many firms including Jumeau, Roullet & Decamps and Daspres in France as well as Kammer & Reinhard in Germany.
Unlike the Kestner factory that made heads and bodies, this factory made only bisque heads, arms and legs that were attached to other
companies’ bodies. Therefore, other than all-bisque dolls, Simon and Halbig technically did not make dolls but doll parts.
Jan Foulke notes:
Other porcelain factories in the Waltershaussen area in addition to Simon & Halbig were J.D. Kestner ...Kling & Co. Bahr and Proschild, Alt, Beck
& Gottschalck and Limenauer Porzellanfabrik. Doll producers in the area who did not make their own heads were Franz Schmidt, Bruno Schmidt,
C. M. Bergmann, Kammer & Reinhardt, Heinrich Handwerck, Catterfelder Puppenfabrik, Konig & Werncke, Kley & Hahn and Max Handwerck.
With so many companies located in such a small area, there was apparently much trading off between factories of molds and personnel. A
producer who owned a mold might at different times have it made in different porcelain factories, whichever one could get the job done the
fastest at the best possible price. Sculptors, mold makers, decorators and artists probably at one time or another worked for several different
establishments accounting for so many similarities of design and execution.
Simon and Halbig factory made porcelain heads for K*R’s 100 series character among other dolls, including the dolly face, for K*R; Columbia
and Eleanore for C. M. Bergmann; Old Glory for Adolf Wislizenus; heads for Hugo Wiegand; Heinrich Handwerck and Wiesenthal, Schindel.
Mary Krombholz notes:
A number of Sonneberg doll factories used Simon & Halbig heads, including Carl Berger (double- and multi-face dolls), Cuno & Otto
Dressel…Louis Lindner & Sohne…and Welsch & Co. The Simon & Halbig mold numbers 719 and 917 were used on the Edison Phonograph
Doll. The swimming doll Ondine was registered in 1890. Mold number 1249 (Santa), registered in 1898, was made for the Berlin doll factory
Hamburger & Co. Mold numbers 1180, 1295, 1296, 1297, 1298, 1299, and 1310 were made for the Franz Schmidt & Co. doll factory in
Georgenthal. The factory also made bisque heads for Carl Trautman…and R. Eekhoff.
She also notes that the factory made heads for SFBJ. The heads usually contain the word DEP and mold numbers 1039, 1078 or 1079.
Though the demand for bisque head dolls, and the means to manufacture them, dropped dramatically with the World Wars, the skills and molds
could still be used. Ciesliks note that sculptors from Simon & Halbig produced molds for Keramisched Werk GmbH, a producer of papier mache
and composition in 1943.
Simon & Halbig were themselves a company, and a family, formed by individuals trained by and with interests in multiple doll families and
businesses. Carl Halbig was a director of the Alt, Beck, & Gottschalk factory. Halbig married the widow Gattschalk before founding the Simon &
Halbig factory in 1869. Both the new wife and Wilhelm Simon provided funding for the business.
The factory produced dolls with all variations of eye and mouth treatments. They produced heads with painted eyes, stationary glass eyes and
sleep mechanisms. The patents held by the company for sleep eyes included: open/close, flirty and a combination of open/close and flirty eyes.
Mouth painting included those with closed mouths as well as those with open/closed mouths and teeth showing. Dolls produced by this factory
also included open mouths with inserted or molded teeth. S&H dolls also frequently had pierced ears: first through the ear into the head, second
through the earlobe and finally later dolls have the ears pierced low through the lobe. S&H were noted for their early molded heads with hair and
ornaments molded with the head. Later heads included those with and without cuts in the crown. Sometimes, the same model can be found with
solid heads as well as cut crowns. No specific reason has been identified for the differences but several points may influence the making of the
head. Cut crowns facilitated the placement of eyes as well as decreased the weight, decreasing the import/export duties assessed by weight.
Heads without crown cuts decreased the labor necessary. This creativity and artistic execution contributed “character” to the faces of S&H dolls
long before the character movement began in 1910.
As with business in general and dolls in particular, the earlier products were of higher quality than the products produced for survival in the later
highly competitive markets.
Dolls with Simon and Halbig marks show many variations in the marks. Some of the variations include:
Mold numbers along with the initials SH or the name spelled out are found on the heads. Unlike the French doll heads, head mold numbers and
shoulder plate numbers do not match. Head mold numbers are numerous, but two shoulder plate numbers have been found. They are 941 and
1061 and may be located on either the front or the back of the shoulderplate. Sometimes the initials DEP are included indicating that the mold
was registered. The country of origin my also be incised as well as a size number for that head. Sometimes, such as with K*R, the name of the
manufacturer for whom S&H made the head will be incised as well.
K*R Simon & Halbig 114
K*R Simon Halbig 101
K*R Simon & Halbig 131