PHILIPPART Functional musical automaton Philippart music box, 20th century. Philippart dolls It was in 1942 that the first dolls were created by the Philippart family at the Moulin de la Coursure in Fresnay. Considered to be the finest miniature dolls in the world, they were made from natural materials (chenille body, hand-painted bean head, sheep's wool hair). Their clothes, faithful to the fashions of the 18th and 19th centuries, are made from silks embellished with lace, pearls and antique braid. Initially immobile in dioramas depicting theatrical sketches, then in bridal globes reproducing bucolic scenes, from 1955 they became dancers under globes animated by musical movements from the Reuge company in Switzerland. They were initially sold in Parisian luxury houses (Hermès, Vuitton, Le Nain Bleu), then in upmarket boutiques on the national market. Reuge uses them in its own designs for export (USA, Japan). Locally, they are sold to a wide range of private customers. This unique, family-run craft is the pride of Fresnay sur Sarthe and the Sarthe department (not far from Le Mans). Philippart dolls were presented to General de Gaulle and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing when they visited. The business ceased in 1999. Delivery direct to your home, anywhere in Europe, from €15 including tax.