A wonderful character cloth doll that just might be one of the earliest selfies. I can imagine a grandmother making a doll in her likeness to give to a child that is not living close by but loves her Grammy. This doll has a face created by using same color thread and string to sew on the face for knotted string eyes, applied nose and a golden floss for her mouth. She is made with a heavy cotton homespun and is stuffed with a grain. She is very heavy. She has a stick from the top of her head that...
A black cloth doll with lots of assets. This doll has a very nice embroidered face, the clothes are fabulous, (including pantaloons, petticoat, skirt blouse,apron, lace shawl), her hair is deerskin hide, her socks are hand made with a different color yarn on the sole to make it look like a shoes and she is 20" tall. She is firmly stuffed with cotton. She sits but resists a little so she would sit on an upholstered chair but would tend to slip on a wooden surface. I have had her sitting on a woo...
This doll has a very early body and was recovered from the waist up in the late 1800's. She feels like she has another face under this one but this has been on there so long I wouldn't want to take it off. She has layers of petticoats and then bloomers all under her blue and white period dress. She is heavy and stuffed with rags and maybe some cotton. She has a pencil face with shoe button eyes. She doesn't look like she ever had hair. She is fully jointed and sits great. Her hands have fingers ...
Antique cloth doll with a bold painted face, black eyes and eyebrows, worried black eyes, red rosy cheeks and staight serious mouth. Her body is curvy and cotton stuffed with arms and legs that are jointed so she sits easily. The dress is a calico print with little heart and flower design in a deep pink and brown colors. Over the dress is a blue check apron and blue checked bonnet on her head. She has mitten hands with stitch defined fingers. Her clothes are all antique. She is from Pennsylvania...
Not all black dolls have black bodies. Some of the best dolls I have had were dolls that the maker took an old rag doll and gave the doll a black head. In the Jim Crow era, it became common in the north for mothers to teach their children about the plight of African Americans, by making a black doll for them. So mothers even ones that were not really skilled at sewing were making black dolls. Putting a black covering over a rag doll was one of the easiest ways. This is one of those dolls black h...
Painted cloth face that has the look of leather. She has a pinched nose and pinched mouth and embroidered with red floss. She has boton eyes and great twisted brown string hair. She is an early doll and night have two other faces under this one. Her body is very firmly stuffed with cotton. She is all hand sewn, sits nicely, and sewn on two layers of socks and great early hand sewn leather boots. The dress is age appropriate but not original. She came from Maine and is circa 1880 and is 20" tall
Yup, she has the look, a perky hat, a kindly face, an hour glass body, basket carrying arms and sturdy legs that are continuous so she has a forced sit.
She is all hand sewn, stuffed firmly with cotton, continuous legs so she sits from years of forced sitting. She is wearing a dress that looks like a jumper but isn't, the top is one with the bottom. She is 18" tall and is from the 1880's. Welcome to summer!
I bet her kitchen smells like homemade bread and biscuits.
This doll lets you know she is strong and capable and isn't afraid of work. I love that she has big hands formed as a fist with fingers and thumb. Her shoes are also big and sturdy also. The carving is bold and yet touching. She is a great example of the 1920-30's woman farmsteading, likely in Appalachian Mountains.
She is 21" tall, carved from heavy hard wood and jointed with screws at the hips and shoulders.
She is C. 1920-30
Amish sister doll from Holmes County Ohio that are adorable, early, rag stuffed, identical clothes but one has blue and the other green. They are early for Amish dolls on the market, probably date to the 1890's-1910. They are packed with rags giving them a great hefty feel. Condition is not an issue, everything is without rips or tears, but they do have natural age related toning. They sit easily, enjoy company and would like to make new friends. They are out of a private collection. 13"tall, C....
This black cloth doll is from a private collection in New Hampshire. She is 16" tall and has embroidered face with a pinched raised nose. She has floss hair coming out from around the sewn on gathered bonnet. She is rag stuffed and is very firm. She sits but it is a bit forced maybe because she has been stored flat in a box for many years. She is hand sewn as is her great early dress with a pocket on one side.The dress is without arms but with her black cloth arms it is hard to notice. She is a ...
Do you believe it, this little linen doll has the best face with tiny bright blue eyes, two tone big rosy pink cheeks, and a little red line for mouth. She has horsehair stitched carefully to her head giving her a whimsical crown of hair. Her body is all original but she has been recovered around her shoulders and chest. The material from her face is the same material all the way down her body. she is firmly stuffed with cotton. Her brown/tan dress is worn and faded and soft as can be. She is as...
I have owned this doll for 30 or more years and I never found the right clothes for him and I like his looks without clothes. When I took the pictures today of him I suddenly thought, maybe it is a her and not a him. I am not sure and I guess it doesn't matter, I still like the doll without clothes. Roben Campbell made me appreciate the doll bodies when she exhibited my black cloth dolls collection at our local Historical Society. For that exhibit she researched black cloth dolls and then made a...
This is a very nicely made black stockinette doll with a sculpture face, applied nose and ears and embroidered eyes and mouth. She has applied hair made from a fine net fabric and sewn in place. She had really nice clothes with a blue dress, and colorful striped petticoat a lace slip and lace pantaloons. On her head she is wearing a black net bonnet. Her body is straw and cotton filled. She sits but it is a little bit of a forced sit. She is 16" tall and circa 1880.
She is firmly packed with rags and cotton, how can I tell, she is very heavy and doesn't give much when you squeeze her. Rags are dense and heavy, cotton is lighter and can be pushed more easily into small places like arm and legs and feet and gives more when compressed. She has a great pencil face with eyes way at the top of her face. She is old and played with and her dress reflects all of that, see pictures for shredding material. Her body is all original and her dress is old and came with he...
This great antique lady is home made and naively painted. She has a great face with painted black hair and a big red bow painted on the top of her head. The paint appears to be all original, there is some flaking of the black paint on her head but the face paint is stable and good except near her hair line. She has a big firm body with a modified hour glass shape. She is wearing her original dress and pantaloons and they are sewn on. The condition is such that a blouse over the dress I think loo...
I am partial to sister dolls and have been collecting them for years. I have always liked these two. I had dressed them, it is very hard to find two dresses alike as you can imagine and they rarely have their matching dresses 120 years later. No question the same person made both dolls. They are very firmly stuffed with cotton, jointed arms and legs, embroidered faces with that straight neutral red mouth and an embroidered nose done with black floss so it is hard to see. Their hair is the astrak...
A nice early antique cloth doll with an amazing brown calico dress. She has a sweet ink drawn face with big round eyes. She has applied black fabric on the back of her head representing hair. She has an hour glass body with a tiny waist. Under her calico dress is a early petticoat and pantaloons. She has sewn on brown polished cotton fabric shoes or boots. Her dress is sewn on and the dress is fragile. The hem either never was done or it has more than likely been cut off to accommodate this doll...
This big folk art oil cloth doll has a lot going for her. She has heavy brush stroke painted face done by some no nonsense mother. She gave her a suggestion of curls around her face, no fussy curls here! She colored her lips a dark purple but definitely not bright red. Seeing that she is all oil cloth her body is very firm as well as her legs and arms. She has wear and some cracking to the paint but not through the oil cloth, which often happens. She has just a bit of flaking paint on the top of...