Collecting Vintage Bathing Beauty Figurines 1800s-1930s

My latest collecting craze is with these delicate and intriguing vintage bathing beauty figurines. The figures can date back to Victorian times though they were rather prominent collectibles in the 1920s and many were made in Germany from the late 1800s to the deco era into the 1930s and then many were ‘Made in Japan’ during WW1. Bathing beauties can be found wearing wigs, swimsuits, shoes, delicate clothing, no clothing – nude, as mermaids, and even holding parasols.  Prices are moderate at the moment and can range up to thousands of dollars depending on size, manufacturer, and country of origin with German made beauties commanding highest prices right now.  Here are a couple photos of Bathing Beauties from my recent trip to the Midway Antique Mall in Sacramento.

Here is a great resource with many photos on Bathing Beauties: Bawdy Bisques and Naughty Novelties

Vintage 1950s Pink Poodles and Bathing Beauties

Some new cuties to share!! The past few weeks I have been coming across some really great items and in down here in California the weather has ben amazing (we will have a heat wave this weekend and up to 90 degrees) so that means lots of sales on weekends. I stopped at a couple sales late this afternoon and thought for sure there would be ‘nothing good’ left but to my surprise I found these vintage 1950s pink poodle sugar and creamer set that was most likely made by Napco or Lefton. I am a sucker for anything poodle related and the fact that these are pink couldn’t have been more meant-to-be for me!! The next and final stop I made was to a going-out-of-business thrift shop sale and it turns out the shop lost its lease. I didn’t see much on the racks or shelves but behind the register was a small cabinet and I could see it had some bathing beauty figures that I nearly missed as someone from the staff had a large framed poster leaning on the cabinet (I guess other shoppers didn’t notice the cabinet)  so to my good fortune I was able to score 3 vintage German bathing beauties; two are boxes with the figurines on top and I think at some point they must have had umbrellas as the way their hands are formed it looks like an umbrella should be held. The on figure is lovely and really nice quality and she is well decorated as her face if very detailed and she has a headband along with a playfully puppy dog. I am really excited about my finds today!!