SMALL ANTIQUE CLOTH DOLL. ORIGINAL CONDITION. Red Hair

In this particular instance, I'm hoping the pictures tell the story.

from my research, i would date this doll at the turn of the last century.

she is the second of a small party of dolls, which whilst showing all the signs of use and time, merit framing and CHERISHING. In my humble opinion, they are more art than toy

she has an all over cloth body, hand stitched, floppy, with her head a seperate entity sewn onto the neck. she is more stiff in the body and legs than the other doll I have listed.

i have been very gentle with her, because clearly she has been very LOVED. her painted features are faded and she's a bit all over grubby. her little dress which was a simple white pinafore with red wool edging has been nibbled by moths and stitching has come away. her tiny red mary jane shoes are made of a shiny close weave cotton and her socks a fine weave knit. There are holes in the socks too.

her hair is a close curled deep red colour and looks like wool

Of note is the fact that her head seems to have been made from silk and the lower part of the front of her face and several spots has rubbed through - the padding which looks like tightly packed cotton wool shows through

i'm not a doll collector but when i saw her, it was a little bit of love at................

i think she's very special. i hope you think she's very special too.

she's 7 inches tall

p.s. she has a small group of friends which i'll aim to list once i see if there's any interest out there