Catalog: Dolls: Antique Dolls: Cloth (231)

As found all hand sewn, sepia drawn face, forever clothes, (been on her forever) that are hand made and now in tones of brown. (Skirt has faded from blue to brown in the front.) I call these dolls, relics! They shouldn't be redressed in my opinion but enjoyed for what they are. Under her apron, blouse and skirt are underclothes that look like they were all made by the same hand. Her cotton stuffed body has jointed arms and continuous legs that with a little persuasion allow her to sit...

Maybe I shouldn't think about it. So without thinking, she is super wonderful, with a elongated head, stitched onto an equally old body, BIG arms and hands, great old body and legs terminating with old nicely worn high button shoes. Still not thinking, her head has water color painted features on very fine old linen, her body is a twill and her arms and hands a little heavier linen fabric with stitch defined fingers and separate thumbs. She is stuffed very firmly with cotton...

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...

Funky old embroidered face, button eyed, black cloth doll. Antique cloth dolls feel old as well as looking old. The stuffing, whether it is rags or cotton, should feel compact, not spongy like polyester filling or with raw wool is should have a little give but not much snapback. This doll is a good example of not only looking but feeling really old. She is stuffed with cotton and is quite firm with no snapback. Her body is all continuous so sitting is a struggle...

This early pencil face doll is what I call plain and simple. It is the type or doll I would see for sale in the 1970-80's. Somehow the fancier antique cloth dolls didn't appear until the 1990's and later. She has a simple drawn pencil face, no hair, a mitten hand with just the thumb separate and the little turned up foot. She sits easily and fits in with anything on a shelf or with a collection...

She is ready for afternoon tea, dressed in white and looking very demure. She is substantial in height and weight. She is very well made and every bit hand sewn. Her face is painted on the fabric and very nicely done. Her eyes are big and blue. She has hair that is pinned on and she has many layers of underclothes. She has on rather heavy stockings and white leather shoes. She has a mend in her forehead that is darned like you would a sock. It is sort of quaint...

This is a big old fashion linen homespun rag doll with a great pencil face. She has wear and recovering on her arms and legs. Her face is a very old recover that is also real homespun linen. The back of her head is amazing, see picture to appreciate this great old doll. She is rag stuffed and very heavy. She has funny replaced feet. She is not jointed at her hips but from years of forced sitting she will sit. She is as found and is wearing a period two piece blue polka dot dress...

This is a wonderful cloth doll with a naïve nicely painted face, no in painting except a little on the back of her head. She has big brown eyes, rosy cheeks and a rose bud mouth. She has a firmly stuffed cloth body with attached arms and legs and has jointed knees. She has on a hand sewn blue polka dot dress that fits her perfectly and may be original and a white petticoat the is a little tight around her waist and is not original but does the trick. She is uncomplicated and original other than...

This is another example of a make-do doll. She has a very early body that probably had a china or papier mache head. It was sure easier to just make a cloth head and put it on a doll body that had a broken head than to make the whole doll. She is 24" tall and is firmly stuffed with cotton. The body is 1860 and the head is 1890, pretty cool. She is wearing a early soft red dress and a full slip and a flannel blue and white striped petticoat. She is a real character and her name is Lizzy.

This cloth doll is reminiscent of the old days, 1970-80s, when I saw and bought a lot of faceless dolls and they were not all Amish. I think faces were not as important to all children or mothers as we may think they are nowadays. Her sweet little body is shapely, with jointed arms and legs. Her underclothes are sewn on her but she is all original. Her hands are slipcovered and held on with string in mitten form, must have been that the hands got really dirty. This is an old fashioned faceless c...

Big bold painted face doll with sewn on original dress, (apron is old but probably not original.) She is soft and floppy even her head, but with a wall behind her the head stays upright. She sits really easily, and is the perfect weight and feel to be carted around. She is 23" tall and circa 1900-1920. Mid-west origin.

This is a sweet little pencil face doll, packed firmly with cotton, is jointed at the shoulders and hips. She has put-together-clothes. She has a very nice onesie, the a early petticoat and the a yellow calico blouse and a calico trimmed apron. She is play with condition, but the only real condition issue is that she is missing the end of one hand. She is circa 1880-90 and is 14" tall.

Boy dolls are just hard to find, fewer were made but when found they are more likely to have good clothes. Boys liked policeman, soldiers, construction workers and sailors. This great sailor is 21" tall, has a nicely embroidered face, is all hand sewn, has the four seam head and has really nice hands with fingers and thumbs. He is very firmly stuffed with cotton. His clothes fit him perfectly. There is the dark blue wool jacket and matching short pants, a sweet buttoned undershirt, white socks a...

Very early black cloth doll with embroidered face, raised nose, wool fabric for hair, and dressed in original blue calico roller print pants, an early brown wool vest, (so great even though it has some damage), and the collar around his neck that is all that is left from his dress shirt. His arms maybe an early replacement. He is 14" tall and C. 1870. His face is mottled color but no damage to the fabric, maybe the early dyed fabric reacted to sun over the years.

A very nice antique black cloth doll with a wonderful embroidered face. She has knotted wool hair pulled through heavy foundation fabric. Her head is round and very hard, her chest is very firm also. Her hips are wide but cotton stuffed as well as her legs. She is very interesting and I can't exactly tell how she was made but I think she is all original and has stockinette and fabric combined in her making. Her dress doesn't come off. She is 17" tall, she sits easily. Her dress is very fragile w...

Surprisingly this is and always has been a bottle doll door stop. She is beautifully dressed with layers of clothes. She has flax hair, and ink drawn face with a bit of a startled look. She has on a black hat with great posies across the front. I have had a few white doll doorstops but this is by far the best. She is 15" tall and is circa 1890.

Pencil face cloth doll is 21” tall, with a big lollipop head that can nod back and forth just a little. She has a firmly packed body with attached arms and continuous legs that do bend for sitting a lot over the years. It is a bit of a forced sit. She has a curved body in at the waist and would at the hips and chest. She has black sock and red boot shoes that have been sewn on and I think are original. She is wearing an antique pair of pantaloons with an antique dress that fits her very well. ...

This big doll no nonsense painted face doll with kind eyes was made with a body and face that match. They are both strong looking, will withstand a lot and be a good companion for a little girl. She is the kindly auntie that can't be there all the time. She is stuffed firmly with rags with cotton stuffed arms and legs. The paint is more a water color than an oil paint. It is flat color and sinks into the fabric. Her lips are the only exception, they are painted with a bittersweet oil paint. She...