The world of antique dolls has its own masterpieces and legends.

French Bru Jne dolls are an almost pipe dream for many collectors - too rare and expensive.

The story of the company and its founder, Leon Casimir Bru (Leon casimir bru) - a kind of mirror of the "golden age" of French dolls, full of amazing beauty, creativity, ingenuity, at times devoid of commercial ambition to achieve the ideal.

The man who created the most luxurious dolls for French aristocrats was born in the small provincial town of Corday (Cordes) in the weaver's family Jean and Rosalie Bru... The laws of the "Second Empire" made it possible for anyone with a desire, and most importantly, an idea, to try themselves in business. Leon Bru was the third son in the family. Armed with youthful enthusiasm and ambition, a twenty-year-old boy, with no money in his pocket, sets out to conquer Paris.

He inherited knowledge from his father.

Leon knew how to weave and was good at fabrics. He easily found a job as a buyer in a clothing factory and quickly reached a leadership position.

At 29, he marries a tailor's daughter  Apolin Comin... The girl sewed shrouds from the owner of the office, which provided transport for the funeral processions.

The young couple settled in a house that belonged to André and Marie Shotaram (Chautard), in the 50s of the 18th century, creating dolls. With no heirs, the Shotars offered Leon to go into the doll business, promising financial aid.

According to the sources, on 1 February 1867, Leon Brue and a "nameless partner" (probably André Schotard) founded a partnership for the production of dolls "Bru Juene et Cie

Literally a few years later, Leon Casimir Bru not only fully paid off with his benefactor, but was also able to share the profit with him.

The first dolls of the newly founded company were so-called "poupee" dolls, with heads made of biscuit porcelain, rubber, or hard paste. Bru ordered biscuit heads from the best Parisian manufacturer, Eugene Borrois, who produced his products unmarked or with the initials E.B.

Bru was aware of the need to distinguish his products and agreed with Borrois to mark the heads he ordered with the name of his company "B. Jne et Cie" or "B.J.". Jne et Cie" or "B.J." on the back of the shoulder plate of the doll.

The bodies of the first dolls were leather or fabric and were stuffed with cork and small sawdust. The heads were attached to the body with threads. The clothes were not removable, they were sewn directly onto the doll. Wigs and costumes were of different quality and value according to the wishes of the customer.

In 1869, the factory began to make fashionable dolls with wooden bodies with hinges at the waist, elbows, knees, wrists and ankles.

No one has ever made articulated bodies for 'fancy' dolls with so many joints before.

The dolls were very beautiful and graceful. Their costumes were distinguished by their sophistication and good cut. They were in great demand among the Parisian aristocrats.

However, Bru did not replicate his dolls and fill the market. The master chose to develop new models.

In 1868, he received a patent for a fashionable surprise doll with two faces (sleeping and smiling).

Then Leon created a model of a floating lady, as well as a doll with a musical mechanism inside.

But one of the most famous dolls of this period was the 'smiling Bru', patented in August 1873.

Some collectors call her the "Mona Lisa" because of her enigmatic half-smile.

It is believed that Empress Eugenia, wife of Napoleon III, served as the model for this doll.

The second version of the prototype is a smiling angel over the front door of the 13th century cathedral in Reims.

In 1878, Léon Casimir Bru receives a silver medal at an exhibition in Paris for his 'fashionable' dolls, losing the gold medal to Emile Jumeau with his 'Bebe'.

Bru notices that tastes in the doll world are beginning to change. A completely new type of doll was at the peak of popularity - the 'Bebe' doll, the 'baby' doll. Appearing around 1876, this new type of doll, with baby proportions, responded to the new tastes of the age.

This was the time of the penetration of Eastern culture into the West. Admirers got acquainted with the centuries-old tradition of Japanese dolls that outwardly resembled a child. German and French companies began to create such dolls in 1851, when they first saw them at an exhibition in London.

Bru developed new patterns for leather bodies, with different proportions, closer to those of a child. (1:5, the ratio of the doll's height to the height of its head, instead of the 'adult' ratio of 1:7 for 'fancy' dolls).

A new type of leather body was patented by Bru in 1879 and was called 'Bebe Brevete'.

The earliest version of such a body still repeated the ladies' hourglass silhouette, but, already in 1880, the body underwent significant changes: the waist expanded, the chest and shoulders narrowed, the torso acquired a pear-shaped shape, and three central seams on the back gently formed the rounded buttocks.

The biscuit porcelain shoulder part began to be attached to the torso with a leather strip with a figured cut on one edge, and the lower parts of the arms from the elbow also became biscuit. These pens, with beautifully designed fingers, are a real fetish for collectors, as they are made to the highest level. Defects or finger replacements are a serious loss, almost on par with head defects.

The new body became the definitive version and was used for a long time to produce not only Bru Brevete, but also the second generation of Bebe dolls, Circle and dot. It is considered a transition between the first and third generation Bebe bodies. There was a slight difference in the cut. The third generation had extra darts in the front to give a slimmer silhouette.

The original head shape of the new 'Bebe' is what made the company famous and the doll the most expensive and desirable collectible doll these days.

The very first Bebe Brevete heads were allegedly made by sculptor Pierre Marie François Auget, who lived nearby with Léon Bru. It is known that the heads of the second generation dolls were created by Ferdinand Barbedienne, one of the most famous sculptors in France (1810-1892).

In 1879 the 'Bebe Modele' appears on a fully articulated wooden body with pivotal joints.

The body from a "fashion" doll was used as the basis, adjusted to children's proportions. All the parts were perfectly fitted.

The poses of the doll looked very natural. Although the factory produced such dolls for quite a long time, until 1883, not very many of them were made, due to the high cost and complex, lengthy manufacturing process.

The production of the wooden 'mods' continued as well. During this time Bebe Modele manages to change three heads - the Bebe Brevete, the Circle and Dot, then an early version of the classic Bru Jne.

In October 1879, Bru receives a patent for the 'Bebe Teteur' or 'nursing doll', a baby doll that can be fed from a bottle.

The bottle was connected to an elastic tube, the end of which was inserted into the open mouth of the doll. Inside the head was an elastic reservoir in which fluid was collected.

A special screw was located at the back of the head, turning which, it was possible to empty the reservoir, and the water was poured back into the bottle.

In 1882, the 'Bebe Gourmand' with its open mouth and movable tongue was based on this doll. It could be 'fed' with dry food, such as biscuits, or special toy food. "The 'food' would fall into a tube inside the torso, pass through it and drop to her feet.

The soles of the doll's shoes had leather flaps through which the "food" could be reached.

Production of Bebe Teteur and Bebe Gourmand lasted until 1888. Now such dolls are very rare.

The head developed for these dolls has proved very successful. It was also used for simple dolls, with no mechanism inside. The holes in the mouth and on the back of the head were not cut out, but the technical marking in the form of a circle with a dot (the place where the screw was attached) remained. It was previously thought that this was a kind of marking of the mold, so among collectors these dolls became known as "Circle and Dot" ("circle and dot").

But the most beautiful and perfect model, whose production began in 1882, is undoubtedly the Bru Jne.

The leather body of the early dolls changed to a slender one, due to the grooves in front.

In 1883, the doll's arms became movable. The upper, a leather-covered metal base with a round wooden shoulder joint, was attached to the torso. The biscuit china bottom extended to the elbow, ending in a hinge with two holes on the sides.

Attaches to the upper arm with bolts.

This way the doll could bend its arms at the elbows very naturally. The new 'Bebe' was marked on the back of the head with the words 'Bru Jne' and a size number. The moulding of the face was changed, making the doll look more mature.

Her special look, as if immersed in herself, excites collectors and lovers of beauty to this day.

Glass eyes with a very convex iris, the so-called "enamel" or "paperweight", gave an unusual depth to the look. These eyes, called "human eyes", were invented by Emile Jumeau in 1879. The crystal dome covered the iris and pupil, giving volume and depth to the eyes. They were manufactured at the Guepratte factory, which had previously produced artificial eyes for humans.

Such eyes were made in darkened workshops, often by young girls manipulating molten enamel rods.

The work was harmful, often the girls were partially and completely blind.

The end of the enamel rod was melted in the flame of the blowtorch, a piece was separated from it, lowered into the flame again and then flattened on the cooler.

The melted tip of the coloured enamel rod was fixed in the centre of the eye. The coloured layer was then gently blended with the white base, so that the iris was drawn. The coloured area was covered by a transparent dome, making the pupil appear to be 'hanging' over the iris, thus achieving the effect of a 'live' eye.

These eyes are truly mesmerizing

The third generation doll's face and articulated porcelain arms with hinges are the latest creation of Léon Bru.

At the height of his success, Bru decides to leave the business. There is no information left about the motives for such an act, there are suggestions that the creator and inventor by nature, Casimir Bru began to be weighed down by administrative red tape. When the opportunity presented itself to put his business in good hands, he used it.

Henri Chevreau not only retained the glory of Bru's name, but also glorified his own name.

He has faithfully adhered to the high level of quality and sophistication previously achieved by the founder. But that's a completely different story.

In today's world, Bru dolls are works of art that are a cultural phenomenon.

Due to their extreme rarity and high cost, the art of replicas of these wonderful dolls is developing, some of which can compete with the price tag of rare antique dolls.

Today, there are few authors who can achieve the craftsmanship and sophistication of antique Bru dolls with their works. Among the recognized masters specializing in Bru replicas, the Japanese master Sayuri Sinn (USA) stands out.

Branca Charlie (craftswoman from Sweden)

Replicas of these authors are highly sought after by collectors and are genuine works of art.

The first time I saw a photo of Bru Jne, I was determined to learn how to make replicas at the highest possible level. Now I paint dolls, collect them, and create an outfit for them.

But in the future I would really like to master the manufacture of these dolls, observing all the old production technologies. And this: removing plaster molds from the original, making and firing porcelain castings, painting porcelain with special paints with stage-by-stage firing, sewing the body according to antique patterns.

I consider a replica a kind of portrait art, only instead of a person you make a portrait of an old doll.

The material was prepared by Yulia Lazunina.