Bebe Jumeau c. 1895, made
by Emil-Louis Jumeau of France
wearing dress of the same period
and original silk velvet hair bows doll also wears original factory chemise
and Jumeau shoes. Her chemise is portrayed on early 1890s advertisements from French deapartment stores for Jumeau Bebe Reclams. She is approximately 20 inches high, (size eight on shoes
and head). A doll collecting friend who saw her recently has pointed out that her lovely original wig with the ringlets and the red velvet bows is made from human hair. Her hairstyle with its wide spread of ringlets and red hair bows resembles that of Velasquez's Infanta Maria Theresia, a very favorate painting at this era, but I think the resemblance is just serendipitous as her clothes are those of an ordinary little girl.
The Bebe Reclam was made in the 1890s, when German dollmakers significantly cut into Jumeau's international trade. Bebe Reclam was sold as a budget price line of dolls with the same lovely Jumeau face moulds, however they do not bear any Jumeau trade marks. The fully marked dolls were sold at the original high prices. The Bebe Reclams are immediately recognisable as having identical faces and bodies to fully marked Jumeau dolls and they are clearly marked with the standard Jumeau size markings and their size conforms to the Jumeau sizing system. Sometimes these dolls were sold through major French department stores and in other instances these dolls were marketed under various Jumeau brand names such as "Bebe Moderne" and "Bebe Miracle".
