Antiques column: Charm of Hummel
These endearing figures were developed from drawings by a Franciscan nun Berta Hummel drawn for the Goebel Company in Bavaria.
Introduced in 1935 Hummel’s figures were an instant success.
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Hide AdBy the time she died in 1946 she had drawn around 600 sketches, which was enough to keep the company producing Hummel figures for decades.
Hummels from the 1950s and 1960s are the cheapest on the market.
Earlier pieces, groups and larger figures are more desired and so more expensive.
The more recent or common a figure is, the more vital the condition becomes in determining value.
Many of the figures are made in more than one version.
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Hide AdFor example, Weary Wanderer was first produced in 1949 but has been made regularly ever since.
The rather rare version with blue eyes is more valuable than all the others.
Also Puppy Love, which is one of the first models to be produced and therefore rare and valuable still has a rarer and even more collectable example which faces right instead of left.
Factory marks help in dating Hummels.
During the 1930s the firm used a script “Goebel” mark under a crown.
After 1950 a “V” mark with a small bee was used and from 1960 the bee became further stylised as a simple dot with triangular wings.