Catalog: Dolls: Antique Dolls: Cloth (231)

Very much played with cloth doll with a painted face and great ears. At one time her cheeks were round circles of pink not it looks like dirt from play. You can see all her features, red painted mouth, a suggestion of a raised nose, (it has been pushed in over the years and very nice ink drawn eyes with probably blue eyes but are not just dark either blue or black. She has a nice little shaped body, she sits well, and she is firmly packed with cotton...

This sweet little all hand sewn cloth doll is wearing an antique red cotton dress. Her nice little chunky body has shaped legs and feet. Her arms also a shaped and end in a well defined mitten hand. Her embroidered face is done in a brown floss and her hair is very bold over lapping stitches giving it a very folky look. She is jointed shoulders and hip. She is very firmly packed with rags...

This doll is from a collection in Maine. She is stockinette that was originally early polished cotton and was recovered 50 t0 75 years ago. So she is all original just recovered. This is not that uncommon if the doll was valued it was repaired. Old black fabric dye had iron oxide that was corrosive and weaken fabric. It is why this face has some holes. Her face has beautiful embroidery, the nose has to be the fanciest I have ever seen...

I can't believe it, this is Miss Grant my first grade teacher. It has been a lot of years but I think this is her. She has great black fabric hair that feels sort of like mohair? It is sewn on really nicely and dented in to make it look like a part in her hair. Her face is pencil drawn with big circles for her eyes. She has a great pinched nose, and a bit of a raised chin. No real mouth but I can tell it is pursed lips, she always did! Her body was made by a real seamstress...

This old antique rag doll has the simplest drawn face. Two round dots for eyes with one line eyebrows a U shaped nose and a little round mouth with the tiniest 1/4" line in the middle. It shows the meaning of pursed lips. This doll is made with muslin and stuffed with sort of lumpy cotton. She has been used and abused and has lived to tell, or not. She has on a blue calico dress and a white apron that perks her up. She is 19" tall and is circa 1890.She needs a good home so she can rest.

Antique cloth doll with ink drawn face and hair, a body that is all original and dressed in a period dress, pantaloons and blouse. The wild hand knit red and white wool socks are a surprise but I can picture a little girl putting them on her and thinking they look grand. This is the way I bought her so I have left them on as a talking point I guess... She is jointed at shoulders, elbows, hips and knees. The clothes are sewn on but it feels like her arms have been replaced...

This little doll antique pencil face doll is made out of wonderful homespun linen. She has a sturdy body that is not jointed but sits after years of being plunked down. She is dressed in a flannel brown skirt and a flannel top with a drawstring at the neck. She has pantaloons that button to the top. She has a color and a lace bonnet and little black leather shoes. She is circa 1890 and is 15" tall.

This doll is the first kind of cloth dolls that started to come to market in the 1970's. There were not many cloth dolls in shops or at shows but when I found them they were sort of like this. Simple and straight forward. She has the early hour glass figure and adding to that look is a serious leather corset that was probably made from the top of an old shoe. She is hand sewn, cotton stuffed rather firmly, nicely shaped feet, one nice leather shoe over black stockings...

This little pint sized cloth doll has a very intricately embroidered face. Very tiny schooled stitches, so nice. She is all hand sewn, I believe that her clothes are all original and her socks are knitted two tone so they look like shoes and socks. Really very clever. She is solid as a rock, I have no idea what she is stuffed with but with her arms and legs are jointed so she can sit easily. She has yarn hair in a lovely shade of dark orange and it hangs in two braids down her back...

This doll couldn't get much cuter...

This antique cloth doll has look that she came from Pennsylvania. She has the one continuous swooping line for her nose. She has on a flannel dress that is also hand sewn. She is rag stuffed and quite heavy. She is plump with big arms and legs and feels and looks like she is all original. Her head moves back and forth a little but is not floppy. Just out of some play box over 199 years ago. 18" tall and circa 1880-90

Maybe you are like a lot of women, some days you wake up and feel pretty good then you look in the mirror and say, boy looks like I could use another 8 or 10 hours of sleep. Well this doll doesn't have to worry about that. She can be as beautiful or as rough around the edges as the day produces and we are never going to know it. We will remember her soft and flowing antique blouse and skirt. We will remember the great antique blue and brown velvet hat that looks so good on her but we won't form ...

This dear little doll has big pencil drawn eyes and triangle nose and an oval mouth. Her arms stand out to her sides making her look like she is spinning and twirling. She is cotton stuffed medium firm, her legs are covered with the same material as her bloomers that are sewn on. They feel like they are original. She has big feet and all I can say is my feet are big and my mother would console me with, just think of it this way you won't tip over easily. (It seemed to be the truth!) Her pink/red...

Such a sweet heart with a very dainty stitched face in red and yellow thread. For such an early face it is a surprise to see that there is another one under this face. I would never remove it but it for some reason got recovered. Reminds me of a Christmas morning when I got just what I wanted, a Little LULU doll and was so thrilled. I was 8 years old, put her in my bicycle basket and rode my bike to show my best friend up the street. It was a warm NE Christmas, I hit a bump and Little Lulu ended...

This lovely painted face cloth doll has a shyness about her. Her eyes are really well painted and kind of talk to you. She has a very nice hand sewn body. Her face is framed with painted brownish red curls. She is all original including the paint on her face. She does have some thinning of the paint and a little loss but nothing serious. The back of her head is another story. I don't know what caused the back of the head to lose some of the outer painted cloth but there are two or three other l...

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...

At first glance she looks like one to me but a southern belle all dressed up in the 1880's would not ever consider putting forth anything resembling a scowl. To give her the benefit of the doubt it is more of a pensive look. Her bright blue eyes would sparkle with a smile but she is what she is. Her face is watercolor and ink and nicely done. She is 22" tall her body is all original with continuous legs so she has a forced sit, see photos. She is wearing a pink and white calico print dress and a...

This doll is very beautiful with very delicate features. Her eyes are sewn on pieces of leather, one is only 3/4 there now. They are stitched on and her eyebrows are done with a cross stitch that is very effective. Her nose is raised and stitched and her mouth is a few stitches of red thread, probably more at one time. She had astrakhan hair but now all is left is the brown fabric with head scarf over it. She has a round full curvy body, jointed shoulders, hips and knees. She has on layers of u...