La Gutta Percha La Gutta Percha - Carmel Doll Shop

The tiny molded and painted teeth of theLeverd are easy to miss upon first glance.patented a thoughtful, articulated, hollow dollbody from the material. From a successfulbusiness family, which included handcrafting ofall sorts of useful goods – from locks to exquisiteiron furniture, the sisters stepped into the worldof doll making and they literally helped launchan entire market that simply did not exist before.Many young entrepreneurs looking for successfound Paris to be a city of vast opportunity.During the reign of Emperor Napoleon III, at onepoint the city counted over two hundred dollmakers and assemblers. Fine boutiques were setup to supply the world with the most fashionablearticles de Paris and it was indeed Paris, in whichthe firm of Leverd et Cie appeared in those rankswhile incorporating bisque, wax, and gutta perchato create some of the most splendid fashion dollsthat would grace the Second Empire.The firm of Leverd et Cie., (later known asLa Gutta Percha) created masterpieces which formany years have been incorrectly attributed tothe Austrian, Josef Kubelka. It is through thetireless effort of one of the world’s leadingresearchers, namely François Theimer along withhis wife Danielle, that insight has been brought tomany obscure inventors and manufacturers,thereby providing proper attributions.It was during the year 1852, in which AlexandreLeverd went into partnership with Louis JosephArthur Decourdemanche. Advertising theyspecialized in rubber products, offerings includedcomponents such as hoses, washers, belts andseals, plus all types of molded objects includingsoles for ladies’ shoes made of gutta percha, alongwith a multitude of additional items, also madefrom the exotic substance.There has existed in modern times, a debateconcerning whether gutta percha was, wheninitially used, at all supple and flexible. It seems tothis writer, if gutta percha was used in the creationof soles for shoes, it must have been somewhatsupple. Furthermore, how strange for today’scollectors to imagine a gutta percha doll’s body ofa similar texture to that of a modern vinyl doll!A. Leverd & Cie. was first located at 218 rueFaubourg Saint Martin and later moved to thefashionable Boulevard des Italiens. The companyenjoyed success, participated in expositions andwon a silver medal at the 1855 ExpositionUniverselle. Additional medals were taken in1860 and 1867. A new partner, Nicolas Joliet,bought into the firm in 1867 – also the year thename of the firm was changed to La Gutta-Percha. Already known in the doll-making world,Nicolas Joliet was able to buy into the Leverdfirm with funds from the sale of his patent for a4