How to clean these figurines?

They're all so cute!

Seeing these pics shows me how dirty mine are. In person, my little boy and girl look like they have a grayish tan.

Are these all bisque with the color applied before the first firing?

 

I don't know, pat - I'm sure someone else can give good info on that... I looked around to see if I could work out the mystery of why babies, not entirely successful, but interesting:



Four Heubach Piano Babies.

You know what a Baby Grand is… but what is a Piano Baby? World Piano News

 

Interesting... the article says: "Piano babies remained popular up until the First World War. Nevertheless, Japan started manufacturing reproductions in the 1950s, and they enjoyed a resurgence amongst collectors in the 1980/90s."

I wonder if there's a way to tell if a piano baby is pre-WWI or a '50s Japanese reproduction?

 

Looks like 3 piano babies & a 'naughty' bathing beauty.

A spinet?

 

I thought yours were on the small side, but don't know if they qualify as miniatures: From The Charm of Piano Babies:

During the early 1900s, miniature piano babies were made to sit on children’s toy pianos. Many of these diminutive, 2- to 3-inch bisque figurines that did manage to survive children’s play, were eventually lost. Those remaining, and in good condition, are highly desirable. (Warman’s Antiques and Collectibles shows examples between $35-$75.)

Anyway, it's an article that ends up giving some good info, although starts a little fevered...

 

Agree - she does NOT look like a baby!

 

Or even a lady...LOL

 

I'm pretty sure yours are from the later fad, miniatures or not.

 

You're probably right. I'll call them "vintage" and say they're probably mid-century.

 

I noticed how closely your dolls' costume matches the Heubach...

Heubachs are the top of the food chain in Piano Babies, but there's an interesting element in what makes a doll a doll - I think I wrote about it somewhere on this site...

The idea is that there's a fine line between modeling adorable and possibly lifelike and... well, results may vary. I think earlier "dolls" like these tried to be lifelike and succeeded, to some degree.

Yours absolutely succeed in being adorable - that's something the 50s kind of mastered.

The in-betweens sometimes end up looking a bit creepy, like the "lady" above.

My sister's in-laws were very enterprising - when Cabbage Patch dolls were the rage, they attempted to cash in by creating "Grandparent" dolls. Somehow, they ended up looking a lot like her father-in-law, Max, who WAS adorable - but the dolls were definitely NOT!!!

 

The "lady" is a good example of the scale of a miniature.

 

They appear to be bisque so definately NO brushes, use a soft cloth or Q-tips dipped in a little warm dish soapy water and wipe gently and carefully avoiding going over the eyebrows, lips etc. Rubbing too hard can remove some of the cheek blush .. you may never get it all off but you can do this a few times, I find that a Q-tip works best on my bisque dolls with a little warm water on a soft cloth to rinse .. avoiding the painted bits. Hope this helps ... Joy.

 

Compare the Heubach's with the other photos........there is no comparison....

 

The Kewpie is a very good example of the differences between the original Rose O'Neill figurine made in Germany and the Japanese copies that followed much later.

There is no comparison.....one is quality, the other cute.

Google is our friend.

 

In the mysterious way of the currents of the Internet, notice of this auction washed into my inbox today:

https://www.liveauctioneers.com/ite...SearchAlert&utm_medium=email&utm_content=item

 

A doll.....not a piano baby.

I haven't checked my email, but I bet I have the same notice.

I love liveauctioneers.

 

For that sort of biscuit figurines, I just use a soft toothbrush and bio menage cleaner in a right % mixt with tempered water, biscuit is as porcelain not alterable by normal solvents but it can make the colors grey when not right applied or when there are restorations.
We use special liquid soap normally with a water tensor component but you can't find it so easily and it's sold in 5 liters where I buy it, normal washing-up liquid make the job perfectly with tempered water, on porcelain I use near pure soap for nicotin with a brush, same with fly results…

 

Dishwashing liquid works perfectly fine and I wouldn't use a brush of any kind on bisque ... Joy.

 

If I clean any kind of figurines, I use a q-tip dampened some and a hint of Dawn liquid on a space that has no color that can be removed. Bottom is a good idea.
To be honest, I don't clean most figurines I sell because most have cold paint.

Yours are so cute.