Lucy Peck Queen Victoria doll – £3800 at C&T.
She was particularly noted for her depictions of Queen Victoria.
By the time the shop opened the queen was in her eighties but Peck’s dolls depicted her when young – such as the poured wax example, c.1900, sold by Kent auction house C&T (22% buyer’s premium) on November 30.
Offered in the Fine Dolls, Dolls Houses & Teddy Bears online auction with an estimate of £2000-3000, the 2ft 5in (74cm) high doll made £3800.
Catalogued as ‘excellent, museum quality’ condition, she wears an ‘original magnificently detailed blue plaid pure silk off-the-shoulder dress with black velvet and lace detail, bustle to rear and matching jacket. Her underclothes and choker with original gold pendant are incised VR (Victoria Regina) and the body is stamped From Mrs Peck, The Doll’s House, 131 Regent Street.
Other versions of the Victoria doll offered at auction include her dressed as Mary Queen of Scots in contemporary black velvet and silk 17th century style dress (premium-inclusive £8625 at Christie’s in 1999) and an ivory satin gown ($3250, then around £2150, at Theriault’s in 2013).
C&T said Peck young Victoria dolls are “extremely rare to find, this example probably being one of the best to be offered for sale at auction”.
