5 of the creepiest dolls ever appraised on Antiques Roadshow

Both the PBS and BBC iterations of Antiques Roadshow have seen many impressive and precious dolls appraised over the years, but they still disturb viewers and even some experts.

Most vintage dolls don't exactly have the charming looks of American Girl dolls. By the time they end up on the hit show, they're seen better days in their old age, looking worn and haggard, with faded dresses and matted hair.

Simply put, they look like they've been found in a haunted house or been possessed by an evil spirit.

• Antiques Roadshow expert fights back tears as he's presented $180,000 treasure
• Prince Harry crushed by Diana’s sisters' brutal reaction to Meghan Markle

Some of the strangest items ever appraised on Antiques Roadshow have been dolls, sadly, despite them likely having brought at least one child some happiness many years ago.

While nearly every doll that's come on the two shows has given viewers the creeps, here are the five creepiest ever appraised on Antiques Roadshow.

300-year-old creepy 'doll'

An Antiques Roadshow guest received several shocks when they brought in a creepy doll that'd been in the family for more than 50 years.

The expert said the doll was likely to have been made more than 300 years ago, in 1715, but dropped an even bigger bomb on the guest.

They explained: "I must admit this is the most interesting and unusual doll I've seen in 36 years of doing Antiques Roadshow, but it's not a doll. I think his body shows he's not a doll, and I'm going to show you why, because this is a very different form of body.

"It's not a doll at all, it's an effigy body. I believe it's a funeral effigy."

The guests paid a small amount for it, so they were understandably left stunned again by how much it was worth.

The expert said: "If we can prove this is correct and it is 1715, I think we should put [a price tag of up to] £20,000 on it. It's historical."

DON'T MISS...

Antiques Roadshow guest floored by value of historical spoons [NEWS]

Young Antiques Roadshow guest gives pure response to value of 'genie's lamp' [VIDEO]

Antiques Roadshow worst blunders including embarrassing and wrong valuations  [INSIGHT]

Bebe Jumeau phonograph doll

During a May 2024 episode of the BBC iteration of Antiques Roadshow, a woman brought in a doll with disturbing eyes, which had been in her family since the late 1800's.

She told expert Bunny Campione that the doll, a Bebe Jumeau phonograph doll, which was "supposed to talk" but hadn't for "quite some time," had originally been purchased from France for her grandmother when she was 4 years old and had remained in the family in her original box ever since.

"None of the family have been allowed to play with her because she is very, very precious," she said.

French Circle Dot Bru doll

Fans of Antiques Roadshow on PBS were also horrified by a doll owner’s story of “scattered eyeballs and limbs” around his childhood home.

Expert Billye Harris appraised the old-fashioned-looking doll in a yellow lace dress, an item that the PBS guest has had since he was young, as his mom used to collect antique porcelain dolls and even used to try her hand at making the toys herself.

“She would actually teach doll making, my dad would pour the molds," the owner said. “We had a kiln in the backyard and eyeballs in all kinds of drawers and all the body parts laying all over the place.”

Harris joked that it must have looked like “Frankenstein’s studio,” with the guest confirming that it was “pretty wild looking sometimes." The expert confirmed that it was a French Circle Dot Bru doll, made in the 1880s in France by Leon Casimir Bru, and would retail for around $12,000 to $14,000.

Fans took to the YouTube comments section, with one viewer joking: “‘Hey, Lady! Watch the eyeball!’ [you don't want to p--- off the possessed doll, do you?].”

Another wrote: “I saw the horror in his eyes recanting the scene of plastic limbs & eyes scattered everywhere.”

Gebrüder Heubach Automation Doll

Viewers of Antiques Roadshow were in disbelief over how creepy one guest's moving doll was, but an appraiser was more shocked at how immaculate it was during one episode of the PBS version.

The doll in question, made around 1890, was dressed in a white dress and bonet and it's glass face held an eerie smile.

The guest explained that once her mother died, the doll's fate was left up in the air as no one else in her family wanted the strange toy.

However, expert and appraiser Billye Harris, from Ashley's Dolls and Antiques in North Carolina, couldn't help add: "But look how cute she is!"

The expert explained that the doll was made in Germany by Heubach and called The Laughing Child.

Harris then gushed: "I have never seen this doll in this pristine condition and still work and still cry and still haunt people. Never!"

Despite being in good condition, the doll was only worth about $750 to $900, which doesn't exactly outweigh its creepiness.

Kammer & Reinhardt 'Philip' doll

During an episode of the PBS show, one guest brought in a Kammer & Reinhardt "Philip" Doll, which they inherited from their grandmother.

Harris, who also appraised this doll, confirmed that the doll was made in 1912 in Germany by Kammer and Reinhardt. However, the heads were actually made by another German firm called Simon and Halbig.

The expert explained: "This doll was made about 1912, but she has a little secret for you. She actually was marketed as 'Phillip.' So somewhere in the 1950s, somebody decided this little boy, Phillip, needed to be a little girl.

"So she's had a little bit of a change along her long life. She was made as one of the very popular character dolls." Harris estimated its value at $2,000 to $2,500.

In the comments section of a YouTube video of the moment, one fan couldn't help but judge the doll "to be the scariest looking doll."