A rare antique doll which was nearly thrown in a skip is expected to fetch thousands of pounds at a North East auction.

The Kammer & Reinhardt Walter 102 bisque antique character doll has been given an auction estimate of £12,000 to £17,000.

It will be going under the hammer in Thornaby-based Vectis Auctions' Doll and Teddy Bear sale on June 6.

This doll was consigned to Vectis after the owner nearly put him in the skip when clearing out a house.

On second thoughts, they decided to see if they could find out some more information about him and sent some images to Vectis specialist Kathy Taylor.

The vendor said: “The doll belonged to my grandmother who passed away 30 years ago. Since then he has been in my mum’s possession.

"He has always lived in the living room on the sofa for as long as I can remember and our late dog chewed his foot off when he was a naughty puppy.

"My mum unfortunately is now unwell and emptying her house we found him again.

"Due to having so much furniture and mementos to sort out, we were having to be quite ruthless with what we were keeping so I put him on the pile of things to be skipped.

"However, my husband remembered the doll fondly and decided to put him in the 'to keep pile' and afterwards we realised how special he was.”

The Northern Echo: A dog chewed his foot off when he was a puppyA dog chewed his foot off when he was a puppy (Image: VECTIS AUCTIONS)

The well-loved doll, who has suffered some damage, is extremely rare and few examples are known to exist.

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Sculpted by well-known German artist Professor Arthur Lewin-Funcke  in about 1910 - although this wasn’t known until 1987 - and based on his own children, the doll is from the 100 series.

A number have been sold by Vectis in the past, although this particular number, 102 is extremely rare.

The doll has been catalogued as: Kammer & Reinhardt 102 Walter bisque socket head antique doll, German, c 1910, impressed K * R 102; represents an older boy with characterised thinner mature face.

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It is clothed in original knitted ecru cotton singlet / bodysuit, hand-made contemporary cotton checked shirt, navy woollen shorts, navy woollen cape with hood and cotton checked trim, 22"/56 cm.

An identical sculpture, Knabenbuste, was modelled by the German artist Arthur Lewin-Funcke in 1898 and then, in 1910, was transformed by Lewin-Funcke into this rare model for Kammer and Reinhardt's art character reform series.

Few examples are known to exist, and the doll is one of the world's rarest in this larger size with fine modelling, intensity of expression and translucent painting.