Tea at Trianon: Madame Alexander's Marie-Antoinette Doll

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Thursday, June 30, 2022

Madame Alexander's Marie-Antoinette Doll

From The Sun:

The Madame Alexander Doll Company was founded by Beatrice Alexander in New York City in 1923. Since then, many kids (and adults) have collected the dolls - and you may be sitting on a goldmine depending on when it's from. Yesterday, the toys got attention in an episode of The Kardashians as Kris Jenner encouraged her daughter Khloe to get "all of them" while in a shop. She noted that they're her favorite dolls but very hard to find. Certain classic Madame Alexander dolls - especially those from the 1950s - can be worth thousands.
According to auction house Theriault’s, a doll in a blue period gown with the original box from 1951 once sold for $25,000. It was said to be "an exceptionally rare example that is perfectly-preserved", with a high cheek color. Meanwhile, a Marie Antoinette example has sold at auction for $20,000. (Read more.)