Long-Face Jumeau Doll (Bebe Triste)

The Jumeau doll-making company began in the 1840s and flourished to the end of the 19th century. By the 1870s, Emile Jumeau, son of the company founder, created the bebe that made the company so famous and so prosperous. This doll in the likeness of a young girl with large almond-shaped eyes, delicately tinted bisque complexion, and the most up-to-date fashions captivated doll buyers the world over. Jumeau used a variety of new and unusual marketing techniques to promote his dolls including games, festivals, brochures, exhibitions, lottery games, even sheet music and storybooks. This doll is known as a Long-Faced Jumeau, which is one of the early styles of the bebes. Many believe that four-year-old Henry of Navarre, the future King Henry IV of France, inspired the head and facial structure for this mold. This doll is stamped with "Medaille D'or," a medal of honor the firm received in 1867.