Above Is An Example Of Complete Doll With Black Hair (Reference Only!)	Cuno & Otto Dressel doll mark symbolwinged helmet Holz-masse ED (Ernst Dressel)

Extremally Rare Vintage German Circa Early 1900's or Earlier - Cuno & Otto Dressel ( Ernst Dressel ) Holz-Masse Papier Mache 4.75" x 4.25" Doll Head!

This Cuno and Otto Dressel girl doll head dates from the early 1900's or Earlier, she is in wonderful original vintage condition with the winged helmet mark of the maker stamp on her back.

Antique Papier Mache Dolls 1760+

Paper Mache, papier mâché, carton moulé, carton pâte or holz-masse are all terms describing a type of composition material made from paper sheets or paper pulp mixed with paste, oil, resin or other material to form a strong material. This is pressed together to form a dolls head, hands and lower legs on a cloth or wooden body.  The earliest papier Mache dolls were individually hand crafted, by the mid 1800s pressure mold processes made it possible for dolls to be mass produced.  Most but not all Papier Mache dolls are unmarked, any known or found markings are listed below.
Production Details

Total length of the item is approximately 4.75” inches.
Width at the widest part is approximately 4.25” inches.

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About this item

Age: For Adult Collectors 

Contents: (1) Doll Head

Box Measures: No Original Box
 
Weight: 0 Lb. 5.9 Oz.

Brand: Ernst Dressel

Manufacturer: Cuno & Otto Dressel

MPN: Unknown

UPC: N/A

Made In: Germany

Year: Circa Early 1900's or Earlier?

Condition: In Great vintage antique condition - Starches, Wear and Chips to Paint - In original and in "as found" condition - No Original Box - Sold As Is - What You See Is What You Get - See Photos & Video for any Issues! 

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Freshwater Creek Pickers takes great care to provide you with high-quality items in the best possible condition. While many of our beautiful pieces have had charmed lives, some are well loved and may exhibit some wear, or a manufacturing blemish. This is typical of vintage and antique treasures. We will mention any major imperfection to the best of our ability. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or to request more images. Photographs are also part of the description & at times can cause items to appear larger than they are. The color on the item may vary slightly from the color on your screen due to monitor color restrictions. 

NOTE: Due to the nature of antique and vintage items, all items are sold "AS IS" and sales are final, we do not accept returns. If you are unsure about an item and need additional photos or have any questions, please notify us prior to making your purchase. We would be happy to hear from you. Thanks again for looking!

 WARNING: Freshwater Creek Pickers sells adult collectable products for purchase by adults 18 years and over. If any product you are purchasing is intended for a child please assume the following warning may apply to that product. WARNING: CHOKING HAZARD -- Small parts. Not for children under 3 yrs.

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Cuno & Otto Dressel Papier Mache dolls 1789-1942

The Dressel family doll and toy business was founded in the 1700’s in Sonneberg, Germany, it passed from one generation to the next, by 1873 the company was known as the Cuno & Otto Dressel Factory.  Dressel purchased bisque doll heads from noted manufacturers such as Simon & Halbig, Heinrich Handwerck, Ernst Heubach, Gebrüder Heubach, Limbach, Armand Marseille and Schoenau & Hoffmeister and was supplied by other small doll factories and home workers.  Dressel’s largest American client was Butler Brothers.

Over the years the Dressel factory produced dolls of bisque, celluloid, china, composition, hard paste, leather, papier mache, wax or wood; Täuflinge or baby, child, lady and portrait character dolls.  Some Dressel doll trade names are 1906+ Jutta doll molds 1348, 1349.  1909+ Bambina a bear and Eskimo doll, 1910+ Jutta Baby doll molds 1914, 1920, 1922 (Ernst Heubach), the Jutta doll is named after Countess Jutta, a patroness of Sonneberg. 1912+ Poppy Doll (School boy), Superior, Victoria (Hering & Sohn), Holz-Masse – wooden and composition dolls.

Cuno and Otto Dressel named their company after themselves in 1873 and registered their first trademark in the district of Sonneberg May 3, 1875 for toys, dolls, doll heads, knick-knacks, glass, porcelain, stoneware, marbles and other items. The mark had an oval that read HOLZ-MASSE with a helmet with wings.

THE DRESSEL FAMILY

NOTE: the following information is taken from German text and translated. There may be information that is lost in translation. Family members and relationships for such as Carl Dressel should be left to a German reader. Apologies are made for any mistranslation. Please see the links for the primary German resources).

Both men were sons of Ernst Friedrich Dressel († April 14, 1870) and Elisabeth Bischoff († March 22, 1876); and grandsons of Johann Philipp Dressel.

Johann Philipp Dressel family acquired “Dressel-hofes” (a free from taxes farm for refugees) the Dressel estates, on Easter of 1757 where they had already started a toy business. The Dressel toy business was one of the first representatives of the Thuringian toy industry. (Schriften des Vereins für Sachsen Meiningische Geschichte und Landeskunde. Hildburghausen: Kesselring. 1911). Other records say he purchased it in 1764.

THE PRIVILEGIUM

Different publication mention the special privileges of the land but sometimes with different dates. Heinrich Hensoldt describes the land privilege thus: “The country was treated with special princely favor and grace, and in anticipation of its still-to-be-achieved industrial importance, sought to regulate the existing conditions, on February 24, 1789, the local merchants were granted a statute, the so-called Privilegium, in which the separation of trade and Trades were pronounced, the proper learning of business and proper business operations were made compulsory for those involved, and everything was recommended that was only able to contribute to the development of an honorable, intelligent and in every respect efficient trading class at that time. The following are recognized as real merchants in this privilege: Georg Michael Bischoff; Chr. Justus Heubach; John Phil Dressel;” (and others.)

In 1798 Johann Philipp Dressel along with a Kilian Diez Wittwe advertised in a book called “Fabriken- und Manufacturen-Addreß-Lexicon von Teutschland,” or translated “Factories and Manufacturers Address Lexicon of Germany and Some Neighboring Countries” (Gaedicke, Johann Christian.) They advertised manufacturing and selling “Sonnenberger” goods, namely black, tin-plated and nails, glass beads, slates and pens, abrasive grinding stones, shotguns, organs, wooden goods of all kinds manufactured in Sonnenberg near Coburg. To Johann Dressel’s name was added the selling of parasols, souvenirs and other goods.

That year Joh. Phil. Dreszel is listed along with a John Paul Dreszel manufacturing wooden goods in Sonneberg near Coburg. It is possible that the name was spelled differently but refers to the same Dressel.

JOH. PHIL. DRESSEL & SONS

Johann Philipp Dressel formed a business name under “J. Ph. Dressel und Sohne.” An advertisement appeared Der Verkündiger in the April 1, 1808 issue that read (translated) “Traveler, looking for orders. A young German merchant who has already made several business trips is making a trip this spring through Swabia, Bavaria and Tyrol to Italy. He will spend some time in Venice, Livorno, Rome and Naples. In the event that wholesalers want to entrust him with business either in the purchase or sale of goods for a cheap commission on his travels, he may wish to address them as soon as possible in postage-free letters to the trading house of Mr. J. Ph. Dressel and Sons in Sonnenberg near Coburg, which not only provides sufficient information because of the travelers themselves, but also has him provide it through well-known houses in Nuremberg, Augsburg, Frankfurt and Leirpzig.”

Friedrich Bickes mentions buying cheap nails from the factory of “Dressel and Sons” in his book from 1850 “Darstellung der künstlichen Sattler.”

ERNST & CARL DRESSEL

Ernst Dressel took over the toy company naming it “Ernst & Carl Dressel” in 1830. Johann Philip Dressel’s son, Ernst Dressel, was considered a “meritorious industrialist.” Ernst Dressel died April 14, 1870.

The name Carl may also refer to Otto Dressel. One publication claims that Carl was Johann Philipp Dressel’s grandson born on July 30, 1931.

Philip Lanhammer, a doll manufacturer who died in 1912, worked as an apprentice for a time under the firm of Ernst & Carl Dressel.

CUNO DRESSEL

Older of the two brothers, Cuno was born March 3, 1829 and passed away on February 1, 1893.

OTTO DRESSEL

Otto was born on July 30, 1831 in Sonneberg. He attended private school from 1837-1844 there and the Meiningen secondary school from 1844-47 when he joined his father’s wholesale toy business in 1848. Later he trained in Paris in 1850, went to London in 1851 to study in England and Scotland.

In 1856 Otto joined the Ernst & Carl Dressel company.

Otto Dressel died on July 24, 1907 at the age of 77. An obituary described Otto as (translated) “a great in the realm of industry, who knew how to turn his house into a world house with a far-sighted eye, in-depth knowledge of the economic conditions of the sales areas, daring and restlessly active work together with his sons raise.”

When Otto Dressel died in 1907, his two sons (Otto Dressel and Ernst Friedrich Dressel, great grandsons of Johann Philip Dressel) donated 20,000 M to build a new school in Sonneberg.

1843 SONNEBERG FEDERATION OF TRADE

Ernst Dressel founded and worked with a federation of Sonneberg merchants to look for overseas trade opportunities. This effort may have contributed to the appointment of Louis Linder as Consul from the U.S. to Sonneberg in 1851.

1862 LEIPZIG FAIR

Otto Dressel attended the exhibitions in Vienna, Paris, Berlin Nuremberg, and Leipzig, where he sometimes acted as a judge.

1870 EVENTS

The fluctuating economic policies due to war caused the toy industries to suffer. This came from a reduction in demand for toys in Austria, Russia, France, Italy, Denmark and Sweden especially due to the increase in tariffs.

Cuno & Otto Dressel official form their company in 1873. They proceed to make great efforts to market the company especially to prepare for the World Fair in Philadelphia in 1876.

1875 FIRST TRADEMARK

In 1875 when Cuno & Otto Dressel registered their first trademark, The New York Herald featured a lengthy article about the doll and toy industry in Sonneberg called “The Home of the Dolls.” The article praises the showrooms of Cuno & Otto Dressel and Messr. Fleischmann for the thousands of varieties of toys.

1876 PHILADELPHIA WORLD FAIR

At the World Fair of 1876 in Philadephia Cuno & Otto Dressel had a listing they claim they manufacture toys, dolls, and model wax dolls. You can view their half page ad on page 122 in the German official catalog of the World Fair of 1876 in Philadephia. The shows their first trademark with the words HOLZ MASSE and the ED with the backward E which stood for their father’s initials Ernst Dressel. They call themselves “Manufacturers and Exporters of German Toys and Dolls” with toys and dolls of every description: wood, papier mache, solid paste glass, wax, china etc. They also advertised baskets, glass beads, masks, musical instruments, slates, slate-pencils, and marbles. The ad can also be viewed here.

Cuno and Otto Dressel were also featured along with 20 other manufacturers for Sonneberg and the surrounding area in the 1876 book, “Handbook of European commerce. What to buy and where to buy it; being a key to European manufactures and industry.”

CHEAP DOLLS

Sonneberg became famous for manufacturing cheap dolls. An advertisement appeared in 1877 that read, “Cat. No. 340. CUNO & OTTO DRESSEL, Sonneberg. Spielwaaren (toys), Puppen (dolls). Especially heads, with good looking features. Great variety, solid material, and cheapness.” (The ad was found in the German publication called the Reports from the International Judges on the Exhibition Items of the Award-Winning German Exhibitors: World Exhibition in Philadelphia 1876. Compiled by the Reich Commission.)

1882 NEW OWNERS

Otto Dressel’s two sons Otto Jr. and Ernst Friedrich take over the business in 1882. During this time Otto Sr. becomes Kommerzienrat of Sonneberg on June 20, 1883. (Otto Dressel served as the municipal councilor for 27 years.)

1893 CHICAGO WORLD FAIR & UNCLE SAME DOLLS

Cuno & Otto Dressel attend the 1893 World’s Fair Exposition in Chicago along with several other representatives of Germany’s toy industry. The group of Sonneberg doll makers formed the “Collective Exhibit of the Toy Industry of Sonneberg” as listed in Germany’s official catalogue of its exhibits at the “World’s Columbia Exposition” of 1893 in Chicago. Handels-and Gewerbe-Kammer of Sonneberg acted as business management for the group.

During this time the company manufactured a series of dolls to resemble the American character of Uncle Same who came in various costumes including as a Santa Clause or farmers. Click here to see the doll once sold at Theriault’s auction house.

LOSS FROM WAR AND EXPANSION

The Dressels had taken far reaching precautions that allowed them to survive the impact of the loss from World War I. The Dressel factories suffered loss from the war, but rebuilt on a larger scale. They even expanded their exhibition for the 1917 fair in Leipzig and an expansive show room on Peterstrasse called “Three Kings” covered 325 square meters.

4 dolls and 3 toy animals on display in the sample show room for Cuno & Otto Dress found in the
export section monthly January 1918 issue of the Velhagen & Klasings monthly magazine. (Photo Credit: Hathitrust)

Carl Stahl of Rittenstrasse 85 represented the company in Berlin in 1918.

1928 AD IN THE GERMAN TOY NEWSPAPER

An ad for Cuno & Otto Dressel appears in the 1928 Spielwaren-Zeitung that reads (translated) “CUNO & OTTO NUREMBERG. DRESSED URESSEL SONNEBERG GRÜNHAINICHEN BERLIN ® • The 1928 collection contains the finest and most viable products from our industry. We also bring excellent innovations that are real hits: D. R. G. M. children’s vacuum cleaner, working automatically, new tower track, wave track, nigger jazz phone, new mass-produced item, baby friction street scooter, special Krahn. Request a sample offer! Permanent sample warehouses: BERLIN SW 68, Alexandrinenstrasse 27. DUSSELDORF, E. Zurkuhl, Steinstrasse 48. VIENNA VII. 2, Max Felix, Schönbrunner Strasse 109. To the Leipzig Trade Fair: “THREE KINGS”, Petersstrasse 32, III. Floor, Stand 301, 317 and 320.”

CUNO & OTTO DRESSEL DOLL MARKINGS

As stated earlier, their first trademark consisted of a winged helmet. This helmet may appear with the words HOLZ MAZZE or sometimes with the initials COD in plain written text or with a large capital D that encompasses the previous CO. Sometimes the helmet appears with only the word Germany above it. Later dolls appear with only the initial C and the word Germany.

The backward E with a D as I mentioned earlier was in the first trademark. Sometimes only this mark is found.

Cuno & Otto Dressel worked with Simon & Halbig for manufacturing doll heads so sometimes the name Dressel or their initials appear the S&H.

Some Dressel dolls have the word Jutta, Bambina, Hexe, and Mercurius.

A lady shaped bisque socket doll with jointed composition body found marked “1469 C. O. Dressel Germany 2″ stood about 14 inches tall. She is usually one of the more sought after and higher in value Cuno & Otto dolls. Very rare face mold number 1468 was a similar lady face doll made by Simon & Halbig for Cuno & Otto Dressel.

1898-1903 Dressel Portrait Character Doll Series, 10-15 1/2″ tall, bisque socket heads with portrait face, glass eyes, composition jointed body.  Some Cuno & Otto Dressel character doll names are;  No. 2736 Admiral George Dewey doll, M. Miles doll, Admiral William Thompson Sampson doll, Admiral Winfield Scott Schley doll, Admiral Charles Dwight Sigsbee doll, President William McKinley doll, Richmond Pearson Hobson doll, Buffalo Bill Cody doll, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt doll, a Farmer doll, Old Rip doll, Uncle Sam doll, the marked Hexe Witch doll.  All dolls were dressed in military uniforms or character appropriate clothing, heads are made by Simon & Halbig.  Dressel portrait character doll marks A, D, R, S, letters or the Hexe word plus a size number, see below Uncle Sam doll mark made in Germany S 8.

Note: Cuno & Otto Dressel doll molds 1767 and 1776 are believed to be dolls created at a later date to commemorate dolls shown at fairs they attended in the respective years, when the company was owned by Johann Phillip Dressel.

Cuno & Otto Dressel Doll Mold Numbers Identified

93, 1348, 1349, 1418, 1468, 1469, 1767, 1776, 1848, 1849, 1893, 1896, 1898, 1912, 1914, 1920, 1922, 2736, 8679. Mold 1418 is a S & H bisque head on a Dressel stamped body, mold 8679 Limbach is a pouty character boy doll attributed to Dressel.

Some Dressel company family members: Johann Georg Dressel (1686-1740), grandson Johann Philipp Dressel (1735-1804), son Ernst F. Dressel (1797-1870), Cuno Dressel (1829-1893), brother Otto Dressel (1831-1907), Otto Dressel Jr. (1857-1926), brother Ernst Dressel (1858-1939), nephew Dr. Hans Dressel (1858-1942).

The Cuno and Otto Dressel Holz Masse Trademark found on the back of a composition doll body
and at the bottom of a 1911 full page ad in a German sales book for the American market.
(Photo: ©2023-2024 Antique Doll Journey)