Author Topic: Antique Doll Late 1800's  (Read 4299 times)

Deb79

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Antique Doll Late 1800's
« on: April 09, 2010, 03:00:25 pm »
The attached doll was my great grandmothers and I am looking for any information I can find on her.  She is 16" tall and I don't know what material her face, arms and legs are.  The rest of her body is cloth.  Her arms only go halfway up and are sewn to the dress and her legs go to about the knee and then turn to cloth.  There are no visible markings on her neck but her hair is in a hair net and bun and is starting to deteriorate so I don't want to mess with it any more than I have to.  I cannot check her body for markings as the purple dress, blue slip and white knickers are sewn to her body.  She is also starting to get age spots on her dress and cracks around edges of her eyes.  Any information at all would be helpful.

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2010, 03:34:54 pm »
Beautiful!! Looks like wood or composition. Any markings on the back of her neck/head?
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Deb79

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2010, 03:40:18 pm »
She's not wood it almost feels like plaster.  No markings that I can see on neck and I don't want to cut dress off to see the body.

wendy177

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2010, 05:40:50 pm »
Tales I think you are right  Deb looks like you have a wax- over composition doll with blue glass eyes, spoon shaped hands. Unmarked probably German. The  cracking around the eyes is due to wax over composition and the diffrent rates at which the 2 materials expand & contract causing the wax to crack doll makers could never rectify this flaw in wax- over composition dolls .  Germany began making these dolls c 1830

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2010, 09:39:33 pm »
Interesting info Wendy177, especially about the varying rates of expansion! I've seen the wax dolls and the composition, but never wax over compo. Very interesting. Thanks.
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KC

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #5 on: April 09, 2010, 09:42:28 pm »
Great job!

Deb if it is a family hand me down you might want to go to a reputable source to restore it.  DON'T HEAT IT UP TO TRY AND EVEN THE WAX - believe it or not people have attempted to do this and destroyed them!!!!  ALSO, don't try and add wax - it is different than your candles or paraffin!
I'm from the South - but please don't mistake my Southern Manners/Accent/Charm as a weakness!

Deb79

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2010, 05:12:57 am »
Thank you all for the information, I really appreciate it.  I want to type up a card and keep it with her so future generations won't have to go through all this trouble that I have and will know the history.  I think I will think about getting her restored.  One last question if she is a wax-over composition should I not keep her in an airtight container as this might make her crack more?

wendy177

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2010, 06:16:08 am »
Tales & Deb this process coating heads with a layer of wax to enhance the appearance evolved almost as soon as manufacturers realized the potential of machine molding paper mache' mixtures. this was used with other types of composition along with other materials but was found most successful with paper mache'. But it was  also found that unsightly deterioration of the smooth surface of the wax as stated in earlier post. This resulted in fine line crazing to wide cracks to large parts of the outer coating breaking away. They began this process to get doll heads with the look of expensive poured wax for a fraction of the cost to produce. As I stated earlier manufactureres were never able to solve this problem and the production of wax over composition doll parts came to an end during the first decade of the 20th century. Agree with KC and would find a professional doll expert to at least do a hands on inspection to verify & value  As it is difficult from just photos, This doll may hold good value as many did not survive. Try to keep the temp in the room around 65 to 75 degrees product will expand & contract more with higher & lower temp fluctuations, humidity etc. Keep her free of dust, light &  smoke and try not to handle her much use  white cotton gloves when you do. I suspect she is German  (with no mark) as a small number of English companies made these but those are usually well marked. Wonderful  piece of family history  Deb
« Last Edit: April 10, 2010, 07:03:05 am by wendy177 »

KC

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2010, 06:58:43 pm »
I wouldn't recommend air tight.  She has lasted this long.

She can do well in evenly modulated temps and out of direct lights. 

Keeping the history/information with it is a plus/plus!
I'm from the South - but please don't mistake my Southern Manners/Accent/Charm as a weakness!

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #9 on: April 11, 2010, 12:48:24 pm »
Also to preserve her dress it would be good to keep the fabric from touching wood or cardboard. Cotton cloth would be good to protect her from the acidic qualities of the box or drawer she is in and will allow air to flow so she won't get mouldy.
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Deb79

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #10 on: April 11, 2010, 12:55:20 pm »
Thanks that's good to know because I've had her in an old antique thread spool cardboard box.  I don't know which generation put her in that but that's what she has always been in so that's probably why her dress is getting brown spots.  Is there anyway I can preserve her hair from disintegrating any further?  Is that due to lack of air also?

KC

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #11 on: April 11, 2010, 03:29:41 pm »
She is ost likely geting brown spots from body oils from hands/saliva from sneezes/coughs over the years!
I'm from the South - but please don't mistake my Southern Manners/Accent/Charm as a weakness!

talesofthesevenseas

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #12 on: April 11, 2010, 03:49:28 pm »
She'd be getting air in the cardboard, but since cardboard is made of wood it is acidic. You can still use the cardboard box if it is special, but just add some cotton cloth or acid-free tissue paper to protect her from it. A bed of cotton fiber would do the trick too.
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KC

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Re: Antique Doll Late 1800's
« Reply #13 on: April 11, 2010, 04:48:00 pm »
Contrary to belief some air is good.  This isn't an item from ancient Egypt which most people hear of and think it has to be sealed.

Agree with Talesof that you can still use the same box (after all it is a part of it's history) just line it with clean cotton cloth/batting or linen.
I'm from the South - but please don't mistake my Southern Manners/Accent/Charm as a weakness!