|
1470 doll Introduction
Somewhere between 1912 and 1925 The Simon and Halbig company produced a 14 ¼ inch lady doll. She had a small number of head variations but always on the same body, unusual for then and a small sign of the changing times. This was basically a high-end play doll for children who’s dolls usually consisted of babies, toddlers and young children. These lady dolls had narrow shoulders, a hint of a bust, a narrow waist and distinctly womanly hips. Add to that narrow arms with delicate hands and long slim legs with a narrow high heeled foot and this doll might very well have been viewed as the Barbie of her time. The original dolls had porcelain bisque heads with glass eyes that were on composition bodies (composition being sawdust and glue and several other possible secret ingredients, pressed into a mold, then painted and shellacked). Without going deeply into the history, this body came with a Simon and Halbig 1468 head, a Cuno and Otto Dressel 1469 head and a Simon and Halbig 401 head (I’m sure other heads have been found on these bodies but we are sticking to the basics for the moment). There are not many of these dolls on the slender lady body that are available to collectors today. Being play things one obvious conclusion is that a great many were played with, broken and discarded. In addition, it’s possible that, being slightly unusual dolls for their time, large numbers weren’t made in the first place. Finally, it seems that modern collectors have for quite a while now, found these dolls to be charming and have scooped them up into collections where they stay cherished. Of this group the 1470 dolls are directly descended from the Cuno and Otto Dressel 1469 body and head, (get it, 1469 – 1470! The next number up! I think you got it.) By numbering our dolls 1470 they avoid the risk of, however unlikely to serious collectors, being mistaken for one of their antique cousins and it also give us a chance to give the 1470 young women a bit of their own identity. The 1470 dolls are 14 ¼ inches tall just like their antique cousins and their bodies and heads are identical in size and proportion. The 1470 dolls have porcelain bisque heads with glass eyes and pierced ears. Unlike the antique dolls, the 1470 dolls have full porcelain bodies. This choice does a couple of things. When the antique dolls were made, composition was cheaper than porcelain to produce, now it's more difficult to produce a composition equivalent. Also, composition can be hard to match to the porcelain head color. It can fade, stain, craze and crack. The porcelain bisque body will match the head perfectly and never stain, fade, yellow or crack. Our porcelain bodies are strong. Ultimately, the 1470 dolls are fashion dolls and will have the wardrobe to prove it. Each doll comes with her wig, earrings, dress, lace panties, stockings, shoes and stand. Their additional clothing will be done in limited numbers from 20 pieces to 60 pieces depending on materials since many items will be made with vintage and antique fabric, trims and buttons. The dolls and clothing are being made right now and should be here ready to ship to collectors before Christmas. We will be continually adding to the clothing collection and are already working on the 1471 dolls for early next year. We hope you enjoy the 1470 Collection. Keep checking back with us, we are only just starting.
Thank you so much for your support,
Doug James
|
