olls with wax or china
heads were imported from Europe in the early nineteenth century for
the families who could afford such luxuries. People of lesser means
had to wait until the 1880s or 1890s to enjoy commercially made dolls.
China head dolls and peg woodens became available for a few pennies
at the end of the century.
By 1892, the Eaton's catalogue featured a variety of bisque dolls,
with or without clothing, as well as china dolls. The 1900 catalogue
included dolls with bisque, china or metal heads, celluloid dolls,
miniatures, doll carriages and the first Eaton's Beauty doll. Dolls
with bisque heads and either leather or composition bodies remained
popular until the Second World War.
Bisque head, composition body
ca. 1895
Body by Heinrich Handwerk, head by Simon & Halbig
Waltershausen, Germany
Gift of Mrs. W. D. Gamble in memory of Canadian contralto Joanne de Nault Shaw
CMC D-2336
Bisque head (#154), leather body
ca. 1895
J. D. Kestner, Germany
CMC D-8941
Bisque head (#117n), composition body
ca. 1911
Kämmer & Reinhardt, Germany
CMC D-6474
Dionne Quintuplets
1935
Madame Alexander Co., U.S.A.
Childhood dolls of Florence Bogg, Trenton, Ontario
CMC 981.6.1.1-5
Queen Anne style doll
1750 or earlier
England
Wooden head, torso, legs and forearms, cloth upper arms
Dressed in a 19th-century gown with
beaded and embroidered cap (1850?)
Courtesy of Mary Alice Thacker
L2552.004