Goebel Marks
The featured image shoes an Antique German Goebel Bisque Doll Head bearing the Goebel incised mark of the crown and GW initials with “Made in Bavaria” (photo credit: Antique Doll Journey).
The trademark shown in the 1906 listing was an upside down triangle with a crescent moon. The moon has a face looking toward the left. See the trademark here.
The triangle and the half moon trademark appears in the Pottery & Glass Salesman book from 1913.
Beginnings
A German newspaper announced Friedrich Adolph William Goebel as the owner of the company Wm. Goebel in Oeslau as of February 24, 1871 (Regierungs-Blatt für das Herzogtum Coburg. 8 March 1871).
William Goebel registered the F & W Goebel company in 1871. His father, Franz Detleff Goebel, came to work with William in 1876. They called their porcelain factory Wilhelmsfeld. In 1879 permission from the Duke of Coburg, they began the production of mainly household pottery and porcelain dinnerware.
F & W Goebel
The German government owned newspaper for the Duchy of Coburg announced merchants Franz and William Goebel in Oeslau as the owners of the company F & W Goebel in Oeslau as of May 31, 1880.
They did not begin making porcelain dolls until 1887 changed the name of the factory to Wm Goebel Porzellanfabrik.
The F & W Goebel company advertised in 1883 in the Leuchs’ Address Book of Export Businesses from the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and Switzerland of the manufacturing of porcelain items consisting of mugs, jugs, egg cups, hand candlesticks, cups, children’s service, small. figures, etc, as well as stoneware such as slate tablets, slate stylus, glass, porcelain and stone marbles with a sample warehouse to the trade fair in Leipzig.
In 1887 William Goebel was elected deputy mayor of Oeslau December 9, 1887.
The 1897 Address Book of the Leipzig Trade Fair gives the two following listings:
- F. & W. Goebel, Oeslau b. Coburg (Thuringia), styluses, slates, all types of marble, Christmas tree decorations. O.-V. Peters-Str. 12, II. Founded in 1845.
- Wm. Goebel, Oeslau b. Coburg, porcelain factory and painting, everyday and fantasy items, etc. O.-V. Auerbachs Hof. Vault 44.
1883 Leuch’s Address Book AD
The half page ad in Leuch’s address book of 1883 featured Goebel with an ad that reads (translated), “F. & W. GÖBEL in OESLAU-COBURG. Porcelain factory – mugs, jugs, egg cups, candlesticks, cups, children’s service, small figurines etc. Stoneware such as: slates, slate pencils, glass, porcelain and stone marble. With sample warehouse for the trade fair in Leipzig. E. A. KALBITZ LICHTE near Coburg. Export of all types of glass beads, glass buttons, necklaces etc. Chemical and physical glass instruments such as: thermometers, syringes, inhalation tubes etc.; all glass toys, glass fruits, balls, eggs and all articles relevant to this industry. Also pencils, slates, stone marble etc. etc.”
1906 Address Book Listing
In the 1906 the German Ceramic Industry address book lists William Goebel as owner and managing director of the porcelain factory in Oeslau near Coburg. In the listing they advertised they manufactured luxury items, figureines, frames, bathing babies (small bisque babies), knick-knacks and everyday objects. The Goebels specialized in the export of jardinieres, vases, mounting articles, ash bowls, murals, sacred objects, figurines, menu and toothpick holders, cupids, candelabras, smoking sets, candlesticks, flacons, butter dishes, milk pot sets, egg cups, jugs, mustard cruets, soap cans, cups and more. They boasted in the color techniques for their artistic objects.
In 1906 they employed 300 workers with representative stores in Hamburg, Berlin, Paris, Vienna, Brussels, Madrid, Copenhagen, Stockholm, London, Milan, and Warsaw.
Max Louis Goebel
Friedrich Adolf William Goebel died March 19, 1911 and passed ownership of the factory to his son Max Louis Gustav Goebel September 16, 1911 as announced in the German publication Regierungs-Blatt für das Herzogtum Coburg on September 23, 1911. Max Goebel had acted as co-owner since 1900 just before they became an open trading company in 1901. Before that time, Friedrich Goebel granted Max Goebel power of attorney for the company in 1898.
Max Louis Gustav Goebel was born n Oeslau on March 8, 1873 and died at age 56 on his birthday in the country hospital in Coburg (Coburger Zeitung, 3 September 1929)
Max Louis (1873-1929), William’s son, went to America at the early age of 16 to study in New York. He seems to have successfully mastered the American business styles.
Max Louis began working in public service when he was appointed to the Commercial Council by the Bavarian State Government in April of 1924. He served as a member of the Coburg Chamber of Commerce and Industry since the spring of 1918.
During this era the name of the company changed from Wm. Goebel to W. Goebel in 1920.
Porcelain Item Registrations
The German porcelain publication in 1910 announced that in 1909 the company registered 3 year certificates for porcelain items “7783, 7785, 7787, 7789, 7870, 7880, 7881, 7883, 7887, 7890, 7891, 7694, 7895, 7953, 7957, 7958, 7962, 7967-7969, 7976-7979, 7995, 8036, 8041-8043, 8081, 8082, 8086, 8089, 8099, each A and B, 7723, 7724, 7744, 7745, 7760-7765, 7767, 7769, 7772-7782, 7784, 7788, 7789, 7867, 7868, 7871-7879, 7885 , 7888, 7889, 7952, 7960, 7961, 7964-7966, 7970-7974, 7982, 7983, 7985-7988, 7992, 7994, 7995, 7997, 8011-8017, 8025, 8032, 8034, 8035, 8038-8040 , 8080, 8083, 8084, 8120 for whole or part and any version, in any size and in any material.”
In 1912 they registered porcelain items 6819, 6849, 6881, 6882, 6887-6889, 6959, 7355, 8768, 8822, 8911, 8940, 8972, 8973, 1/, 3/8995, 3-5 8997, 1-4/9004, / 9005, 9015, 9024, 9026, 9028, 9038, 9039, 9045, 9053, 1/, 2/9066, 9077-9079, 1-3/9080, 9081, 9082, 9085, 9217-9220, 9229-92 31, 9236 , 9249, 9259, 9266, 9267, 9271-9275.
In 1915 they registered 3 year patents for doll heads as listed, “10061, 1062, 11058 A, 12803, 12804, M/9161, 9881, 9891, 12810, 11002, 11099, 11155, 12991, 12994, K/11002, 11099, 11155, 12991.”
In 1916 the German porcelain magazine Sprechsaal v.49 announced the Goebel company had registered 3 year patents for the luxury porcelain items listed as “2/10610, 8/10688, 9/10688 A & B, 10894, 10943 – 10947, 10996, 11080, 11081, 12746-12748, 13085/, 13087/, 13090/A & B, 3/13645-13647, 13683/1, M/13683/0, 1,13684/0, /1 A & B, 13906/, 13908/, 13909/A & B, 13910, 13911, 14057, 14116, 14118, 14120, 14124, 14126, 14128.”
Luxury Items
In 1897 the Wm Goebel company of Coburg advertises selling luxury items in the Universal Address Book for the Russian Import Trade.
Goebel is listed among other German porcelain manufacturers in a group called, “Members of the Association of German Luxury Porcelain Factories” found in the book “Keramische Rundschau” from 1918.
Bebe Elite, a Goebel Bisque Head Doll
The Goebel made doll heads for Max Handwerck, a doll maker from Waltershausen. One such doll is known as Bebe Elite with mold number 286. One can find a Bebe Elite doll ad in a 1907 newspaper described as “24-inch jointed doll, full jointed papier mache body, ball jointed bisque heads, closing eyes, woven wig (hair can be combed), lace trimmed chemise… $1.39” (The Birmingham Age Herald, December 6, 1907, page 2).
Tea Cozy Doll Heads
During the 1920s the Goebels produced doll heads, bathing dolls, and popular things of the time called “tea-cosy heads.” Tea-cosies, or tea-cozy, were coverings for a tea pot. Porcelain makers began making doll heads with wide skirt dresses fashioned as the tea-cozy. In reflection the tea cozy doll heads were popular for several years before Goebel started producing them. Without their dresses, people call these “half dolls.”
American Newspaper Explains Tea Cosies
A writer for the newspaper in 1911 explained tea-cosies as the goddess of the tea table, noting “The doll tea cozy of today demands the wide spreading skirts of the Victorian era.” (The Evening Standard , Ogden City, Utah, November 4, 1911)
In 1913 another writer says that a lady’s tea table is incomplete without a tea cozy. The pretty imported porcelain tea cozy heads could be found a the needlework shop, ending with “If you enjoy dressing dolls, the pretty tea cozies will appeal strongly to you for it is most fascinating work.”
Examples of Found Goebel Porcelain Tea Cozy Dolls
Various antique Goebel porcelain dolls have appeared in modern auction. A beautiful half doll 6 inches high called “Bonnet Lady Serving Tea” circa 1920s auctioned off at Theriault’s for nearly $800. She bore the Goebel crown mark but clearly indicates the popularity of tea cozy doll heads to adorn the tea tables. Another similar piece of work was called, “Lady in Rare Coiffe with Yellow Tray.”
Many of them have the resemblance of court ladies of Louis XIV or Dolly Varden fashions of the mid 19th century (from Charles Dickens, Barnaby Rudge). Some are like the shepherdesses from a Antoine Watteau painting or 1820 ladies.
One German Goebel tea cozy doll was dressed as Jenny Lind, the Swedish opera singer and a fully dressed tea cozy doll they called “La Belle Chocolatier.”
Other Goebel tea cozy dolls portrayed the Viennese ballerina Fanny Elssler die Wiener Tanzerin of 1830, Princess Wilhemina, a chambermaid of Louis XVI named Charlotte, Elasserin, and Embress Eugenie along with many others.
The beauty of these creations demonstrate the luxury that Max Louis Goebel tried to bring to the company’s reputation.
Goebel Bisque Doll Numbers of the 1920s
During the 1920s doll head molds produced had the numbers SA 106, 107, 110, 111, 114, 122, 123, 124, 125, and 126. For example, the doll in the photo has the mold number of 120, produced sometime between 1921 and 1932.
The 1930s and the Porcelain Hummel Figurines
During the 1930s Franz Goebel (1904-1969) began producing figurines based o the artwork of Berta Hummel (born in Bavaria in 1909) who became Sister Maria Innocent Hummel based on her artwork of children. These figurines showed off childhood for years to come. The average person in the USA might have familiarity with Hummel figurines, even though they never once saw or held one of their antique dolls.
In 1935 Goebel took the porcelain Hummel Figurines to the Trade Fair in Leipzig, Germany, presenting them to the world. The work had to stop during WWII but the American troops stationed in Germany after the war enjoyed the figurines and their popularity caught on.
During this time the Goebels start using the M. I. Hummel trademark beside the V with the bee. Sister Maria had a childhood nickname with meaning relating to a bumblebee. The V came from the distributing company Verkaufsgesellschaft.
Many Hummel collectors study the many variations of the crown and bee trademarks to be able to date the porcelain figurines. The trademarks have even been given special names like the double crown, the narrow crown, the ducal crown, the Full Bee mark or TMK-2 or FB, the Stylized Bee (TMK-3). The list can easily be found in searching for antique Hummel markings.
1940s – Goebel’s Hummel Popularity Grows
You can find ads in American newspapers even by the end of 1945 for Hummel figurines.
In 1948 The Western News of Libby, Montana published an article describing how a local Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Borg, owners of Borg’s Specialty Shop at 1130 Tower Avenue had a grand opening of their bookstore. In the store Mrs. Borg had specialties on display that included a genuine line of Hummel figurines. (The Western News, Libby, Montana, January 1, 1948, page 4).
Berta was recognized as the inspiration of the figurines. An ad for Will Rehder, a florist on Front Street advertised in the Wilmington Morning Star (Wilmington, NC) in 1947 calling them “Berta Hummel Figurines” selling them along with flowers, wreaths, corsages, and Christmas centerpieces. (The Wilmington Morning Star, Wilmington, NC, 13 Dec. 1947, page 5).
In 1947, a question and answer column in Washington, D.C.’s Evening Star published the question, “Is Berta Hummel, the originator of the Hummel figurines still living?” The answered replied, “Berta Hummel died in a Franciscan convent at Siessen, Wurttembert, Germany, about December, 1946. She was not quite 33 years of age. Her figurines first attracted attention when they were exhibited at the Leipzig Fair.” (Evening Star, June 27, 1947, page A-10)
The 1950s and Goebel Disney Figurines
Later in the 1950s the company worked with Disney to make character figurines. During the 1950s their mark changes to a V with a bee since Maria Hummel died in 1946.
The 1970s and the Goebel Collector’s Club
In 1971 the Goebels celebrated their 100th anniversary. With such a long history it comes as no surprise that a collector’s club sprung up shortly after in the USA. This probably contributed to the large number of Hummel collector over the later end of the 20th century.
The mark or trademark started using the name Goebel with the V above it.
The 21st Century
In 2009 Manufaktur Rödental obtained the right to produce the M. I. Hummel figurines. The current trademark is “Original M.I. Hummel German” encircled and the bee with © Manufaktur Rodental.
Goebel, a family fun business, moved to Bad Staffelstein.
**See some other antique German doll marks here.