Catalog: Dolls: Antique Dolls: Cloth (231)

This is a very nice painted face cloth doll with an all original body. The back of her head is painted brown and then a black painted strip around her face to suggest she has black hair. She is hand sewn except for her stitched defined fingers. She is 23" tall. I don't believe any of her clothes are original but are antique and they look like have been on her a while. She is stuffed with cotton and has a nice feel but is not a real heavy doll...

This charming character painted face cloth doll looks so proper. She has a great face that has many coats of white paint. She has blue eyes, applied nose and a tiny black line for her mouth. From her elbow down her arms and painted white and her legs from the knees down are painted black. Her body is very nicely constructed and is stuffed just right for holding. I didn't try very hard to get off her pantaloons, someone worked very getting them over her painted legs but her body is all original...

A very folky early rag doll with pencil face and a touch of blue in her eyes. Every thing is sewn on her and I do believe it has been that way a long time if not original. She has a little square head and no neck and straight across shoulders and short little arms, just the cutest! She has wide hips and hinged arms and legs. Her head is a little floppy front to back but a ribbon tied around her neck I think would remedy that. She is stuffed with cotton and rags and is quite heavy...

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

Here is a very cute stockinette doll with big button eyes, straight embroidered nose and a tiny little oval mouth. She has great heavy astrakhan hair that wraps around her head. She has a soft cotton stuffed body and long kind of lumpy legs. Her old red dress fits her really well and over the dress she has a great brown and red apron. Her condition is really good, she is 16" tall and is circa 1910-20

This is a great 23" black doll door stop with embroidered face,braided trim hair and nice calico clothes with a paisley shawl kerchief sround her shoulders. She is in very nice condition with just a little fading to her clothes Circa 1920

A sweet little rag stuffed doll with a suggestion of a face. She has on aearly blue and white dress, not original but my guess it has been on her a long time. She is C. 1880-90 and 11" tall with the dress adding another inch or two.

This is a large Gertrude Rollinson in really good condition with wonderful clothes. She probably has been repainted at some point. She has on a long white cotton dress with a slip that is the same length as the dress, well below her feet. She has on white socks and white shoes and a crocheted bonnet. She is in very good condition, is 26" tall and is circa 1907-1916.

Nice old black stockinette doll with the sweetest sad little face. She has a pinch raised nose very nice embroidered eyes and a dearest little turned down mouth. She has yarn hair that is a little thin. She has a very long body and short legs, a true little rag doll. She is 18" tall but looks and feels like a smaller doll.

Cloth dolls come in all sizes and all kinds of bodies and faces and they can be so unique. This one doesn't really stand out in a crowd but she does hold her own in a spot light setting. She is all hand sewn, has great braided hair framing her face and is wearing a lovely old brown calico dress and velvet bonnet. Her body is stuffed with cotton and she sits easily. She has big feet pointing east and west. She is a charmer...

This is a wonderful doll cloak or a small child's cloak, in very good condition with no moth holes, no tears. The bonnet is lined with a red and white silk fabric. The original hook and eye is still at the neck. It was one slight stain on the bottom front left edge. It looks like someone with a little powder put their thumb down. It is a great Shaker cloak in a small size. circa 1890

I don't find many baby dolls and I have two today. This one has one tooth and I suspect the other is coming soon. She has a round firm body and arms that had hands now one does and it is a furry fringe. She is all original and has on a onesy. 12" tall and is C. 1910

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 lovely black cloth doll is all original. Her face is embroidered, her clothing is early bandanas that are very lovely, I think they may be hand blocked and printed. She has black horsehair peeking out from under her head wrap. In her right hand she is holding, a gathered at the top, purse She is most unusual and very beautiful. She is 17" tall and is circa 1910-20.

This sweet little black doll has the look of a 24" doll. She is old, her clothes are early, soft and hang nicely. Her leather shoes are original and it is always a mystery of how they get so worn. She has raised eyes and mouth done with layers of yarn. She has a cotton stuffed curvy little body that sits easily. Her yellow dress is a little fragile and the kerchief around her shoulders is old but not as old as she is. She is 13" tall and C. 1890

This doll has an oil painted face on fine linen cloth. Her face is lovely but her eyes are just looking over my head. I think she is lost in thought. Her body is shapely and she is stuffed firmly. Her arms and legs and jointed and she is all handsewn. She has mitten hands with lots of wear and black stockings with leather shoes that look original to her. She has on a petticoat and a brown checked dress that is early but not original...

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...

This plain and simple stocking doll with great old button eyes and probably original stocking cap. He feels like he is stuffed with soft stocking material. He has fancy blue and maroon yarn tied around his ankles that probably matched his clothes. Simplistic pleasure. He is 14 tall and has a few small holes. He is circa 1910-20