Posted 14 years ago
markg
(42 items)
I bought this doll many years ago at a swap meet in Western Washington. I have never been able to find anything like it and not even now, with Google et al, have I been able to see another like it. The doll is approximately 23" from head to heel and appears to be hand made and stitched. The body is cloth and the head/chest is hand stitched to the chest/back area. The clothes look real old (see photo) and include bloomers.
The doll head is intriguing to me; the face is hand painted, though now quite worn and you can see in the photo that the leather has become mottled or faded or whatever it is that happens to it. The hair appears to be made of yarn that is stitched through the scalp.
There are no marks on the doll that I can see, but i must admit that I am reluctant to pull the clothes off etc, as I don't want to cause any degradation to it.
My wife is telling me that the over skirt is made of lawn (whatever that is) the petticoat and bloomers are made of cotton and the stockings of fine cotton and the vest appears to be some kind of old satin, like the back of a man's vest and sports a metal button.
The doll has very long legs and arms and is short wasted, which I am not sure will be visible in the photos.
I am excited to see if anyone out there in the collector's universe has seen a thing like this before. I would appreciate any help that you might have.
Thanks...MG
I think I forgot to say that the head is a supple leather, stuffed tightly. Perhaps lamb or rabbit or squirrel or some such thing. Maybe someone can tell by the way it is aging.
Hmm, you might look in our cloth doll category, but it could very well be a doll made by hand. I'm not sure how you would be able to date it.
I am pretty sure that the doll IS handmade. I guess what I was asking was if anyone knew what type of person in what time era might have made something like this out of theses particular materials. Maybe a student of history might have a better idea than a collector? Thanks for your help, everyone.......
i love it! this doll is definitely old. a long time ago people would make dolls for their kids out of lots of weird things like apple cores for one. if you have ever seen an apple head then you know how creepy they look. are there any wires threw the arms or legs? and how did they attach the yarn to the head? also do you know what they stuffed it with? sawdust is one i know was often used. my Dorothy doll on my page is stuffed with it. oh also on your 1st doll if you look at my doll Dorothy that is the type of body your doll had but was leather to the feet. well i will look in to this doll for you it might take a bit but i will see what i can do.