I bought this new doll in early December, because the deal was too good to pass up.

He’s a 12″ (30.5cm) painted-eye F.G. (Gautier) french poupee. I found him at a very low price on eBay and after checking out the description and pictures, I was surprised that he had no bids and no “watchers”. Then I noticed that that the seller had a feedback score of 1. So this was a new seller and no one, except me, was willing to take a chance.

I will very smugly say that the risk paid off.  I paid under 1/2 of his value and got a lovely doll from a new and very good seller. BOO-YA!

Trust and kindness are a big part of collecting. There’s been a lot of ugliness lately in some Facebook doll groups where people are hyper-critical (yes, it happened to me), or shaming certain doll dealers because of one person’s negative buying experience. It’s just dolls, people. Lighten up.

Lecture over. Let’s look at my new doll.

He’s really cute. I love dolls with painted eyes and, yes, I just got another painted-eye F.G. a few months ago. But his look is very different, he’s a HE, and I got him really cheap.

His kid body is the simple French-type, with its mitten hands, unjointed knees, hips and elbows and notable “Y” seam on the front torso. And it is in excellent condition, except for a small patch on one hand and one in a rather delicate spot on his derrière.

These wonderful leather boots are stitched onto his feet and are obviously original.

The one-piece soles and heels are hand-carved wood and are nailed onto the leather boots with tiny tacks. Just wow!

He doesn’t own any underwear. His outfit consists of a beautifully hand sewn cotton shirt, jacket and pants made from a heavy, course, dark blue wool and a black felt hat with velvet ribbon. The pants and jacket show wear and a few moth holes, but I just love the over-sized covered buttons.

The jacket and pants are hand sewn as well.

He has a beautifully painted face with expressive eyes and a sweet smile. Yes, “he” has pierced ears. I don’t believe many French gentlemen in the 19th century had pierced ears. His boy’s costume wasn’t predetermined by the factory, but decided later by his couturier.

Everything about him is original/antique, except his wig. I showed you how to make this type of wig here, but hopefully yours will be a bit neater.

I don’t know anyone who loves doll stands. They prove challenging at the best of times. In this case, with his tiny waist, I used the top part from a small stand and fitted it to a larger base because the small base was too short. The large base was a bit too tall, so I tilted the post forward until his feet touched the ground.

Here’s a parting shot of my charming doll, high-water pants and all. He’s a keeper.