JEWELLERY, DECORATIVE & FINE ARTS AUCTION Tuesday, 25 November 2025 / 10:00 am start
A rare 1920s Bessie Murray Mother and Child doll,
Estimate: $800 - $1,200
Looking for an opening bid of $640 (0 bids)
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Lot Details
glass hei-tiki and detailed Māori dress. On metal stand. H. 470mm. Note: These dolls were sold in tourist stores and local drapery stores in the late 1920s and 1930s. Murray based her dolls on carefully recorded sketches and paintings of wahine and of their dress and moko. They are noted for their realism and sensitive portrayal of Māori. Bessie Murray’s work is highly regarded, and her mother and child dolls represent her most rare and popular work and are rarely seen on the open market. Two similar examples are held in the Te Papa collection.
