Years from now collectors will hark back on the January 7 auction in Newport Beach that was conducted by the Annapolis, Md.-based d antique doll and toy auctioneer Theriault’s as perhaps the most significant doll auction of its time. “This marks a turning point,” said company President Stuart Holbrook, “Finally, dolls are coming into their own and being recognized for the value they deserve by a wide group of sophisticated collectors.”

After years of being in the top five collectibles in the world, yet significantly underpriced when compared to other categories, such as stamps and coins, the collection of Lucy Morgan proved to market watchers that dolls are quickly on the rise and are becoming a powerful force in the world of collectibles.

The auction, which yielded $3.5 million, nearly doubling Theriault’s previous record with the Mildred Seeley sale three years ago, consisted of only 280 lots. The results, said the auction house, can be attributed to Morgan’s collecting standards of emphasizing quality rather than quantity in her choices, as well as the collector’s reliance on Theriault’s knowledge and credibility in the subject.

This turned out to be a worthwhile strategy in that thousands of collectors from around the world bid aggressively throughout the day, taking nearly every doll to big results, so as to own one of these fine examples, some of which had never been seen on the auction market before. Morgan noted, “I chose Theriault’s because I knew their marketing sense, and collector’s trust of them, would ensure great results.”

“I first saw this doll at an exhibition about 15 years ago. I’ve dreamt of it ever since, but I never imagined that I would ever see it and have a chance to buy it,” exulted an ecstatic collector who did bid and took her home for $85,000.

More than $2 million in bids were registered at Theriault’slive online bidding site, making this the largest number of onlinebids ever recorded at Theriault’s. More often, however, it was theattending audience that prevailed in the end, with 85 percent ofthe dolls being sold to the floor-bidders.

Right from the start, with the very first lot, a tempo was set in the bidding that gave collectors a taste of things to come. A French Bebe Bru quickly rose in a flurry of bidding to $27,000, a far cry from its presale estimate. Things just kept rolling along and by the time a German character lady doll by Simon and Halbig came up seven lots into the sale, the Internet and phone bidders were into full swing and the competition became fierce. The doll, estimated to bring in the area of $30,000, left collectors speechless as it finished off at just under $100,000.

Brus and ATs were perhaps the stars of the show and were certainly an area of focus for Morgan during her 15 years of being a formidable collector on the world market. More than 20 examples of the dolls of early French maker Casimir Bru were presented, with collectors not hesitating to take the bidding into record territory.

Likewise, the works of Thullier, another fine French dollmaker of the Nineteenth Century, whose dolls seldom come up for auction, were heavily contested, with many examples, such as a classic example with leather body and bisque lower arms, bringing double the estimated value. She brought in $81,000 as two floor bidders battled for the doll among gasps and applause. She was eventually won by a noted Chicago collector in attendance.

Kammer and Reinhardt’s 102 model with sculpted hair is very rare, and especially so in this 22-inch size. It was hammered down at $65,000.

The auction, while having some items in the under $5,000category, was primarily made up of examples that were estimated at$10,000 and higher.

Said Holbrook, “This is one of the factors that made this auction so special; it proves to the world that the doll market has matured to an extraordinary level over the past decade in its ability to hold a single event of such magnitude. Ten years ago, you could not have done this without having some negative effect on individual prices, but now there can be no doubt, as this sale proved not only a cumulative success, but also individual prices were tremendous right up until the last lot.”

Prices reported include buyer’s premium.

Theriault’s has been awarded the auction of the Museum of Antique Dolls and Toys, long displayed at Legoland in Denmark, for an event planned in Las Vegas, Nev., May 19-21. For information, www.theriaults.com.