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Fabric Dolls










Fabric Dolls
  Fabric Dolls are direct descendants of the
homemade rag doll - that huggable confidante of children down the centuries. While some fabric dolls can have a high price tag, English fabric character dolls - to take just one of the many types -

 
Dolls made of plush, pressed cotton, or printed felt are classed as fabric dolls. 



These materials are fragile, so older examples are rare. Most of the fabric dolls available today were made between 1900 and 1950. Prices for marked dolls with maker's labels or marks by well-known companies, such as the Italian firm Lenci, rose in the 1990s, but inexpensive dolls still exist.









Fabric Dolls












Wardrobe of felt




Felt dolls made by Lenci, established in 1908, were designed for display.






 
Typically, they have elaborate costumes and expressive painted faces, often with sideways glancir Dolls with glass eyes are valuable than those with painted ones.






The most desirable Lend dolls, made in the period from 1920 to 1941, tend to fetch £200-500, but rare examples can be worth up to £5,000.




Those made after 1941 are usually valued at less than £200. Reproductions of early designs, issued in the 1970s, may prove to be a good investment.



Lend dolls have a black or purple stamp on the foot and often a label attached to the costume. Early dolls may have a Lenci repainted faces crying eyes more button sewn on to the costume, 





Who stole my sheep?





Starting in 1926, in Shropshire, Norah Wellings made high-quality fabric dolls. Those modelled on nursery rhyme characters, such as Little Bo Peep, can fetch £300.



 Character dolls, such as cowboys and Indians, are generally less expensive. Smaller sizes can be found for less than £100; larger sizes ^an cost up to £300.the sailor doll, often marked 'Imperial' — so check the labels.






 All Norah Wellings dolls have a cloth label on the foot or wrist, although sometimes this is missing.


Fabric Dolls
From 1920. Chad Valley made a range of fabric dolls, often with mohair wigs and glass eyes.






 Those based on the young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret Rose, or on Mabel Lucie Attwell characters, can cost up to ±500.
Alpha types

Two teddy bear manufacturers, Alpha Toys and Dean's Rag Book Co., also made fabric dolls. Alpha Toys is renowned for its costumes.






 Its dolls date back to the 1930s and include ones that play music. Look for its George VI doll from around 1937, which can fetch about .£200.


From 1905 to 1995, Dean's Rag Book Co. also produced printed fabric dolls designed to be cut out and sewn up at home. Its post-war dolls often had features such as shoes and socks printed on the fabric. Dean's also specialised in ready-assembled promotional dolls. It introduced



 
Fabric Dolls
Fireman, soldier, dreamer


The German company Steiff made felt dolls such as firemen and military figures.
They have distinctive painted felt faces with a centre seam, sewn-on ears, and felt hands.


Recent limited editions of its earlier dolls from the 1920s to the 50s have the script 'Steiff button, used since 1986. Larger dolls can fetch ±500-700.







Another famous German maker is Kiithe Kruse, who introduced her fabric dolls in 1912. Look for early examples produced before 1929 with three hand-stitched seams on the head. 






Her Du Alein ('You are Mine') and Tratimerchen ('Little Dreamer ) dolls are desirable. Early dolls in good condition are very expensive. Dolls from 1948 onwards have plastic heads and tend to







Fabric Dolls

 fetch £100-£300.



Look for dolls with accurate detail, colourful costumes, and ^all their accessories. Little Bo .Peep should have her sheep. Copies exist - especially of




 




Fabric Dolls    Top Tips
  • When examining a Lenci doll, check that the pewter 






    button from an early doll has not been attached to a 




    later one. A tell-tale sign is new stitching.



  • Be wary of unmarked 'Lenci' dolls - they may be Chad 

    Valley copies


    .
  • Do not wash a fabric doll





    .
  • Wrap dolls in acid-free tissue and store them in a box


    .
  • To eradicate insects, seal the doll in a bag and place it in a freezer overnight.


  • Look for characters from fairy tales, nursery rhymes, and




    stars of stage and screen: these are especially 






    collectable.

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