Hi Melanie,

Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.

Grace Storey Putnam was an American artist and doll designer best known for creating the Bye-Lo Baby doll in the early 1923; it became her most famous doll and was modeled after a three-day-old baby she sketched in a hospital. It was meant to look like a real sleeping newborn, which was revolutionary at the time.
Early dolls had bisque heads (made by German firms like Kämmer & Reinhardt), with cloth bodies and glass or painted eyes. Later versions used composition or celluloid. The Bye-Lo Baby was marketed as “The Million Dollar Baby” and was wildly popular in the 1920s and '30s. It became a top choice for children and collectors alike.

Your doll appears to be one of the early Bye-Low dolls. While the market for these dolls used to be strong to the point where they could reliably sell between $300 and $500 at auction, at best, these are usually sold in groups with other dolls and rarely bring more than $50-75 when sold on their own, $40-60 if there are any condition issues (the crack to its head would count as a condition flaw, I'm sorry to say).

Based on the photos and information provided, and subject to examination, this is:

An antique Bye Low porcelain and cloth baby doll,
designed in 1923 by Grace Storey Putnam, bisque porcelain head made in Germany, mid 1920s-30s.
With sleeping eyes, painted bisque porcelain head (stamped "Copyr by Grace S. Putnam / Germany", wearing a printed cotton dress with lace frill and red apron on its cloth body.
12 inches long
CONDITION: This doll appears to be in original condition but has sustained a crack to its head
PROVENANCE: Inherited
$40-60*
*represents a fair-market value for auction purposes; retail or asking price may vary.

Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia