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The 12-inch pressed bisque bébé by French doll maker Thuillier was originally owed by Lily Tabor and passed into the Mildred Seeley collection. It achieved $70,000.

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The 19-inch bébé by Haolpeau, known as “H” bébé, was from the family estate holdings of Mildred Seeley and fetched $60,000.

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The 23-inch size 9 bébé Bru with classic face and rare signed Bru ankle boots holding a 12-inch Bru bébé wearing classic Bru shoes sold for $40,000 and $23,000 respectively.

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Zinner and Sohne’s hand-wind musical mechanical “Little Musicians” made $3,100; a French gilded wood doll’s settee at $1,600; a 16-inch bébé Steiner, early period, at $5,300; and a 23-inch portrait Jumeau bébé with rich ebony black complexion at $18,500.

POST, THUILLIER BEBE IS STAR AMONG THERIAULT’S “CROWNING GLORIES” W/4 CUTS AVV/cd #748084 set 8/12

LAS VEGAS, NEV. — Fittingly, the crowning glory of Theriault’s annual summer doll auction, July 27 at DeVenetian Hotel titled “Crowning Glories,” was the cover doll, a 12-inch bébé by French doll maker Andre Thuillier. Made about 1884, the doll was a baby gift for Lily Tabor, and its christening gown was sprinkled with diamonds and gold. Many decades later the doll passed into the hands of the legendary doll collector Mildred Seeley, and it was from her family’s estate holdings that the doll came to auction, fetching $70,000.

Close on the dainty heels of the Thuiller bébé was another doll from the family estate of Mildred Seeley. The sought-after “H” bébé, made by French doll maker Halopeau in the early 1880s, quickly climbed to $60,000. Other dolls from the Seeley collection included an 11-inch Schmitt et Fils bébé, size 4/0, that topped at $15,000; a 32-inch size 15 bébé Triste by Jumeau at $29,000; and a dainty size 1 bébé Bru, 11-inch with signed shoes, that quickly climbed to $18,000.

The 11-inch Schmitt et Fils sold to a collector who spotted the doll in an early Theriault’s advertisement for the auction and called to verify that it indeed was the Seeley-owned bébé. “I’ve dreamed of this doll for years after seeing it in Mildred Seeley’s books. I can’t believe I’ll have a chance to own her,” she said. She did win the doll, sending her husband to bid, while she waited nervously for the verdict in a nearby room.

Another group of French dolls was from a private collection in Vienna, Austria. Collectors eagerly vied for these dolls that included a size 9 23-inch bébé Bru with classic face that soared to $40,000, a classic model bébé Tete Jumeau wearing her original couturier costume at $19,000, a 12-inch kid-bodied Gaultier bébé at $13,000, a dainty 11-inch size 4/0 bébé Brevete by Bru at $18,500, and another model of the desirable bébé Triste by Jumeau, this a 27-inch example of the size 12 model, that topped her larger sister, reaching $30,000.

A small but select collection of antique bisque black-complexioned dolls was led by a 23-inch French bisque portrait bébé by Emile Jumeau with ebony black complexion that brought $18,500, and a 20-inch SFBJ model 227 with rich brown complexion that climbed to $7,000.

Theriault’s doll auctions are notable for their variety. New budget-minded collectors found an 8-inch 126 toddler by K*R with original costume that sold for $700, a 12-inch ABG 1322 character with chubby toddler body at $850 and a German bisque fashion lady with closed mouth and original costume at $650.

Toy offerings included a dachshund, with tiny hidden wheels and a fine leather muzzle and leash that sold for $2,000 and a musical automaton, “Little Girl at Bedtime with Her Doll,” at $9,000.

For more information www.theriaults.com or 800-638-0422. Theriault’s next catalog doll auction is October 10–11 at the Ritz-Carlton in Half Moon Bay, Calif., and will feature the early collection of Madalaine Selfridge, author of Dimples and Sawdust and Dolls, Images of Love.