Antique French Dolls Handmade by Nuns and 50 similar items

This is a vintage, mid century pair of dolls handmade by nuns in or near Versailles, France. The cloth French Peasant dolls, an elderly man and women, wear primitively styled clothing and painted wooden clogs. The old man holds a pipe and has a coat and hat (looks like felt) and velvet pants. He has knitted socks and wears a vest and shirt under his coat. The elderly woman has a black felt dress with an apron and scarf covering her head. She holds knitting needles, is wearing a slip, long pantaloons and thick black stockings. I cannot find a maker mark on the dolls. An elderly family friend purchased the dolls directly from the nuns in France, likely sometime in the 1950s or 1960s. She gave them to my mother in 1986. She told my mother she paid $100 for them at the point of purchase. My mother had them appraised in 2002, and they were evaluated at $400 then. Condition is good, having been carefully handled since they were gifted. There is a bit of wear on the doll noses. (See photos). They are dusty and could use professional cleaning.