Over the years, similar products were copied by many manufacturers, particularly from Japan. In the 1980’s, when most goebel products were in a slump, goebel issued several series of Ladies to, in my opinion, compete with Royal Doulton figurines. These figurines were comparable to Doulton in both quality as well as issue price. Because of the high issue price, not many were sold and some tend to be rather difficult to come by now. Like most goebel products other than Hummels, all of these lines were discontinued in 1988. The ladies will be the topic of this month’s column.
In picture #1 (above right), we see the complete set of four very beautiful ladies who were introduced in the late 1960’s. The numbers incised into the bottom are of the older system and are FF 273 through FF 276. FF 70 and FF 118 were also introduced earlier than the rest and can be seen in picture #2 (left). These and the ladies that follow are all about 8″ tall, again very similar to Doulton products.
Picture #3 (right) is a limited edition series issued for the GFWC (I don’t know what it stands for) and the initials are printed on the bottom as well as, “Unity in Diversity”. Left to right, they were issued in 1984, 1984, 1986 and 1988. If goebel bothered to give the preceding ladies names, I am not aware of them. But, they gave beautiful names to the next series called “Fashion on Parade”.
Picture #4 (left) shows a fan shaped dealer display plaque in both English and German. These are 6″ across. The earlier figurines do not have the name and date on the bottom. The figurines in the 270’s and 280’s can be found both ways and are the most common as they were produced for the longest period. I have put this series in order of the common ones first and the hardest to find last. The name is appropriate for the figure and the date is the year in which women wore this type of outfit.
Picture #5 (right) presents Edwardian Grace, 1911 and is numbered 16-283-21. From now on, I will give only the middle numbers. To her right is The Visitor, 1894 and is #279. On the left is The Garden Fancier, 1880, #278.
Picture #6 (below) has Her Treasured Day, 1925 and her husband, Waiting for His Love, 1925. If she doesn’t hurry up, he may leave and she will be an old maid. They are numbered 289 and 288, respectively.
Picture #7 (below) shows ladies in full gowns. On the left is Demure Elegance, 1835, #284, and on the right, Gentle Thoughts, 1835. #285.
Picture #8 (left) shows us flapper style figures. These are very popular with art deco collectors. The Cosmopolitan, 1935, #280 and At the Tea Dance, 1928, #281 are very deco. These are followed by the only two children in the series, Gentle Moment, 1920 and her boyfriend, A Lazy Day, 1920. The numbers are 12-404 and 403. But I have the original brochure and these are definitely part of the set.
In picture #9 (below), we have Strolling on the Avenue, 1904, #282, Afternoon Tea, 1875, and Impatience, 1800, #287. Picture #10 (below) features Reflections, 1800, #286, Promenade at Nice, 1912, #308, and Silver Lace and Rhinestones, 1922, #307. Note that we are now into the higher numbers and they get relatively hard to come by.
