China head dolls were made with black, very dark brown, and blonde hair. Hair color can also help date a doll's manufacture. Her hairstyle consisted of swept back sides and center part. In the 1860s, Jenny Lind dolls were made to resemble the popular singer known as the Swedish Nightingale who toured America in 1850.The style included a center part and ribbon, with rolls over the ears. Mary Todd Lincoln's hairstyle appeared on dolls from the 1860s onward, contemporary with her popularity.The Dolly Madison doll became popular just two generations after the real Dolly was First Lady. The doll had a head full of curls, and sometimes a ribbon, which was a well-liked style with the real Dolly Madison who lived in the early 19th century. Dolly Madison hairstyles were prominent on 1870s dolls.Covered wagon hairstyles referred to the simpler, "pioneer" look of these dolls, which were made from the 1840s into the 1860s.Hairstyles may give a hint about who the doll may represent, or when she may have been popular, but doll manufacturers might use a head mold for years, even after the hairstyle was out of date. The time period became associated with this style of doll, and many dealers use the term to refer to these wigged dolls from the previously mentioned dates. If you know the maker of a doll, you may be able to find it on Doll Links, which lists china head and other doll manufacturers from the 19th century on.Ĭhina head dolls had painted faces and molded hair, although Biedermeier dolls, or dolls from an era in German history that overlapped with the English Regency from around 1815-1848, often required a wig. Collectors Weekly notes that from the 1860s until the 1930s or so, millions of china head dolls were made and sold, and are still popular in the antiques marketplace. The factory closed during the communist period of East Berlin, and its dolls are highly collectible.Īmerican companies, along with other German, French, and Czech factories also produced dolls, but, as previously mentioned, many of the dolls were unmarked and little is known about the smaller companies. The Hertwig Porcelain Factory in Germany made dolls from the 1860s into the 1940s they used identifying marks like the company name or house symbols with an H or cat.Although the factory marked many items with KPM and a symbol, there are also many reproductions and fakes on the market today. Famous for porcelain, their work was always hand painted, and exquisitely modeled. KPM Meissen was among the earliest manufacturers of dolls, beginning in the late 18th century and continuing until the end of the 19th century.Just a few well-known china head doll manufacturers among the dozens who produced them included: Some makers placed a doll (or child's) name on the shoulder plate, without noting the factory. Other factories were sold and resold, changing their names and their marks, but still making dolls and doll parts. Unfortunately, many factories did not identify their products, since they were making parts for resale and not complete dolls. Many dolls represented young women and girls, although boy dolls and baby dolls were also manufactured. In Europe, doll china factories began to turn out dolls resembling the young Queen Victoria after she took the throne European and American factories molded dolls with popular hairstyles, pretty faces and delicate hands. By the first part of the 19th centuries, china head dolls were claiming their place in the home.Īs china manufacturing methods became more dependable, china head dolls started to fully enter the market by the 1830s according to Collectors Weekly. China was imported from the East to Europe, until the secret of porcelain making was revealed, and Germany started to produce fine china in its own factories. Many "dolls" were, in fact, figures made for creches, the Christmas manger scenes set up in churches and homes. China dolls first began to appear in the 18th century notes the 2001 Childhood Playthings exhibit from the Shriver-Weybright Exhibition Gallery, although they were far less available than the wood, gesso, wax, and papier-mâché dolls of the era.
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