Jumeau was a French company, founded in the early 1840s, which designed and manufactured high quality

bisque doll A bisque doll or porcelain doll is a doll made partially or wholly out of bisque or biscuit porcelain. Bisque dolls are characterized by their realistic, skin-like Gloss (material appearance), matte finish. They had their peak of popularity betwe ...

s. It was founded by Louis-Desire Belton and

Pierre-François Jumeau Pierre-François Jumeau (31 October 1811 Rémalard – 13 August 1895 :fr:Boulevard Beaumarchais, Boulevard Beaumarchais, Paris), was the founder of Jumeau. Jumeau was an 1840s French firm that produced bisque dolls and china dolls. His second son ...

in the Maison Jumeau of Montreuil-sous-Bois, near Paris, France. While Belton did not remain with the company for long, under Jumeau's leadership (and later, under the leadership of his son, Emile), the company soon gained a reputation for dolls with beautiful faces and "exquisite" clothing which replicated the popular fashions of the time.Hoban (2008), p. 12. The dolls are still popular with collectors today, and have sold for over £2,000 at auction.''"Rare French Doll Sells for Amazing Pounds 2,250"'' (2005).

History

The Jumeau company first emerged as a partnership between Louis-Desire Belton and

in Paris in the early 1840s.The exact date varies on the source, but 1842 (Whitton, 1980, p. 5) and 1843 (Hoban, 2008, p. 12) are both mentioned in the literature. In 1844, Belton and Jumeau presented their dolls at the Paris Exposition (at which they received an honorable mention), but, by 1846, Belton's name was no longer associated with the dolls, and Jumeau was trading in his own right.Whitton (1980), p. 5. A bronze medal in the 1849 Paris Exposition followed, as did an appearance at the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

in London in 1851, at which the company was awarded a First Place Medal. Through much of this period, the firm sold only their own dolls to wholesalers, although during the 1850s and 1860s, the company moved into selling wax dolls imported from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * Great Britain, a large island comprising the countries of England, Scotland and Wales * The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, a sovereign state in Europe comprising Great Britain and the north-eas ...

.Peers (2004), p. 51. At the Paris expositions and the Great Exhibition in London, Jumeau dolls received their commendations due largely to the quality of the clothing, and no special significance was attached to the dolls themselves. This changed in 1867, when at the of that year, the company was awarded a silver medal, and "special mention was made of the doll's heads". 1867 was also the year that Pierre-François' son, Emile Jumeau, joined the company.Markel (2000), p. 18. By 1873, when they were awarded a gold medal at the Vienna Exposition, the company was producing their own

s in their factory in Montreuil. Jumeau05

By 1877 Emile Jumeau had produced the first Bébés (i.e. dolls in the image of a little girl). With realistic glass eyes and "stylish fashions" produced by costumiers, thousands of Bébé dolls were produced for an international market. In 1878, the Jumeau company won a gold medal at the

Exposition Universelle (1878) The 1878 Universal Exposition (, ), also known as the 1878 Paris Exposition, 1878 World Fair, or 1878 World Expo, was a world's fair held in Paris, French Third Republic, France, from 1 May to 10 November 1878, to celebrate the recovery of Franc ...

. The award was proudly advertised on the bodies, boxes, shoes and even the dress labels of the dolls. Jumeau won a number of other high awards including the prizes for the best

doll A doll is a physical model, model typically of a human or humanoid character, often used as a toy for children. Dolls have also been used in traditional religious rituals throughout the world. Traditional dolls made of materials such as clay and ...

maker at both the Sydney International Exhibition (1879) and Melbourne International Exhibition (1880) in Australia. The dolls were internationally sought after as luxury items and status symbols. The firm also was regarded as an industrial success, with production figures of over three million dolls annually by the mid-1890s. The "Golden Age" of the Jumeau factory lasted for two decades, from the late 1870s to the late 1890s, when the competition from German dolls sent the firm into financial difficulties. The Jumeau company became part of the French conglomerate the Société Française de Fabrication de Bébés et Jouets. The S.F.B.J. still continued to use the Bébé Jumeau trademark throughout the 20th century, even producing dolls in the manner of Jumeau.

Footnotes

References

* * * * * {{Dolls Doll brands Doll manufacturing companies