Precious 1983 Elisabeth Pongratz "A-Face" 15" Redhead Wooden Doll #387 1980s

Description

Precious 1983 Elisabeth Pongratz "A-Face" 15" Redhead Wooden Doll #387
Hand Painted - Hand Carved - Limited edition
For your consideration is this precious simplistic early wooden handpainted redhead 15" Elisabeth Pongratz all wooden "New Munich Art Doll." (Up for a short 3 day auction)
Before you bid - please read the entirety of the description especially the information under payment and shipping terms.
She stands about 15 inches tall and is marked on her left foot 83A387P. The mark means '83 - 'A' face dolls began to be made in 1983 - "A" for 'A' face doll.
The P on the end of the mark stands for "Pongratz." 'A' face dolls were made in the 1980s. 'A' face Pongratz dolls are no longer made and are hard to find. 'A' face dolls do not have the indentation in the wood above the lips under the nose like you will find in the next set of B face dolls.
Her right foot has the half circle German brand mark "NEUE MUNCHNER KENDERPUPPEN ELIZABETH PONGRATZ."  The Pongratz dolls are designed by the doll artist Elisabeth Pongratz-Schofer. The dolls are carved of maple wood and even hand sanded to get a silky soft surface.  The eyes and mouths are painted by hand which causes every doll to have a unique facial feature differing in small special ways from the other dolls.
I read that Elisabeth, herself, paints the doll faces using pale transparent paints that allow the wood to show through.  This doll's wooden body has been nicely preserved over the years as the wood coloring of her face has not changed colors like these dolls can do when they absorb things from the air around them.  This is a sign to me that her previous owner took very good care of her. Previous owner says she was purchased new in Germany years ago and brought here to the U.S.
The arms and legs are connected with springs to allow for movement and posing. Because these dolls are spring jointed they will not become loose like other "strung" dolls do.  I could stand this lovely without a doll stand.  She is articulated at the neck, shoulders and hips where access holes are pegged.
I also read that the garments are hand knitted. This doll pictured wears a very soft white angora sweater like dress. This doll's knitted dress and cap are very soft. She has a simple white cotton undergarment and finely knit socks with simple tie shoes.
She has a hand knotted human hair wig. The human hair wigs were actually made for the Pongratz dolls by the Kathe Kruse GMBH factory in Donauworth, Germany.    (Ah - she is missing one of her pigtail ribbons.) Her lovely red hair is in pigtails and has some "flyaways" due to wearing her darling knitted cap.
She is ALL NATURAL from the wooden body to the natural fabrics and the wig. She's very "organic" stemming from the concepts that began to develop in the early 1900s regarding letting children have simplistic play with things that were more natural and playable.  In that time there was a competition in Germany to design dolls that were simple, playable and huggable...  That's when Kathe Kruse and other doll artists came on the scene in the early 1900s.  Now returning to those ideas in the latter part of the century was Elisabeth Pongratz.
Pongratz started making these amazing all wood art dolls in 1979.  Pongratz dolls have sweet simple expressions - no big artificial grins or smiles - very much in a similar fashion as the famous vintage German Kathe Kruse dolls. The doll's
beautiful all wooden body and sweet simple face would nicely complement any antique Schoenhut or Kathe Kruse collection.
There's a nice video by the Mary Shortle toy store in London on Youtube that tells more about the Pongratz dolls called "The World's Finest Wooden Dolls - Pongratz" dated February 21, 2020.  If you don't know the Pongratz dolls you can see the German website at "Pongratz-Puppen (DOT) de" to see the current dolls of 2021.
She has no bad odors not even that of storage - just natural goodness, in my opinion.  She is one of the nicest natural dolls I think I have every found.
** Item is NOT mint but shows evidence of being loved and gently cared for by an adult collector. I have tried to photograph her from all sides with her wardrobe and without.  I have mentioned flaws that I have noticed but I'm not an expert so there may be others.  Ask questions about what's important to you that I did not show in photos or mention in the description.  I will answer if I can. I don't guarantee that I will know but I try.
See my other listings
for more great items!
Payment due directly at end of auction.  I will message the buyer after payment is received before I ship the doll.  A reply is requested.
Ebay charges and collects the sales tax where it is applicable.
ALL SALES ARE FINAL.
ALL ITEMS SOLD AS IS, AS SHOWN, IN USED CONDITION. NO RETURNS, EXCHANGES OR PARTIAL REFUNDS.   So check your budget and feel confident before bidding and purchasing please.
I am open to talking about offers for a Buy It Now price before bidding begins if the offer is above the starting bid.  Just message me if you are sincere and if I accept I will add the buy it now button for you.
*READ* - Restrictions on bidding:
For this auction, I require Ebay memberships created BEFORE the year 2021 and feedback scores higher than 20.  I reserve the right to cancel bids of Ebay profiles that do not meet these requirements.  I am sorry to disappoint you.
Doll is insured and will be packaged very carefully.  ***
If you have questions about shipping, ASK BEFORE you bid.
***
The buyer's name MUST be the name on the shipping label.
-
(I do not do
"in care of" type of labels using
C/O or CO).
If a name appears on the address different than the name of the buyer, I may cancel the order.
A signature will be required upon delivery.
------------
USPS Priority Mail or FedEx 2 Day Air
-
Sorry - I no longer ship to P.O. Boxes.
-- I will hand deliver the package to the post office or FedEx worker and watch them scan it in and give me a printed receipt of delivery which I keep as official proof that I shipped your package. (I will not put your package in a drop box.)
--I will not send the item using slower shipping options.
USPS Priority International  :
Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Australia and New Zealand
.00 handling fee for international orders
**
Note for International Buyers:
Private Overseas (maritime) Shipping Agencies are
NOT
allowed.
You need to be aware of your country's import fees. Custom fees are the responsibility of the buyer. I do not control how long an item is held in customs. Customs forms will be marked with the actual dollar value of the item and will be posted as used or preowned merchandise.  Sorry, but I am not willing to under-insure or provide false information on customs forms or other international shipping documents.  I will only ship using methods that provide for insurance and cannot consider any shipping method in which the shipment cannot be insured.
Orders with addresses associated with private overseas shipping (maritime) agents will be CANCELED.
Thank you for respecting this and for your consideration.
txzj pxzj97 txzj-11 txzj18 txzj53 txzj115