Aunt Marlene’s Doll Cupboard

Yesterday evening my husband’s aunt visited for a St. Patrick’s Day Meal. She brought a few old pictures to talk about and the photo of her old doll cupboard was among these. Many years ago she had to sell her home and move into a small, one-room apartment. Consequently, she was not able to keep her large collection of dolls. She did take a few pictures of the dolls she sold and showed them to me last night. I remember seeing this giant collection in person after Doug and I were first married. So, trust me when I say, this is only a small portion of the playthings that once inhabited her old home. I felt fortunate to see these. She allowed me to keep the photo in order to examine the dolls and include it on a journal entry here.

1. The first doll numbered above is a topsy-turvey cloth doll of Grandmother and Little Red Riding Hood.
2. The baby doll seated just behind the topsy-turvey is, I believe, a vinyl “Miss Peep or Baby Wendy.”
3. The third doll is a pew baby made from fancy kerchiefs.
4. The fourth doll is a 20 inch, vinyl, Thumbelina by Ideal.
5. The fifth doll, on the second shelf is a porcelain half doll with a blond angora wig.
6. The sixth doll, seated next to the fifth is a half doll as well, made into a pin cushion.
7. Number seven is an all-bisque doll, groomsman. He is most certainly made in Japan prior to 1932 and his clothes are not original.
8. The eighth doll is the matching, all-bisque bride. She is also not wearing an original bridal gown.
9. Number nine was manufactured at the same time as the bride and groom dolls were. She also has a full bisque body and molded hair. Her former owner dressed her as a bridesmaid.
10. The tenth doll is a bisque, french clown, called a “peirrot.” It is ment to be a decorative doll and was probably mass produced in Japan during the 1980s or 1990s.
11. No doubt, this doll is the most valuable pictured here. She is from Germany, I believe, and is either a copy of a doll made by Simon & Halbig or she could be an original character dolly from their 900 series. I simply can not know for sure because I would need to inspect the doll in person. My husband’s aunt did live in Europe at one time, this may be a doll she brought back with her.
12. Doll number twelve is a little angel that was used as a Christmas ornament.
13. The thirteenth baby doll is an all-bisque, white, baby doll from Japan made by the Morimura Brothers.
14. Baby doll number fourteen is a bit larger and was made much later than 1935. It is also all-bisque and dressed in a Christening gown.
15. Baby doll number fifteen is a very contemporary Kewpie. She is all vinyl and dressed as a ballerina. Rose O’Neill produced the first Kewpies in 1914-1915. This version was produced after 1980.
16. The tiny doll in the basket is made from celluloid.
17. The tiny blond doll standing next to Kewpie is a Madame Alexander doll.
18. The eighteenth baby Kewpie is a Japanese copy, all-bisque, white body.
19. Nineteen is a plastic travel doll, made for tourists.
20. Doll number twenty is a composition, flange head doll. The wig is not original to this doll, she has molded beneath the old wig and her eyes are painted on.
21. Baby doll twenty-one is a mass produced china doll with painted features.
22. This empire style china head doll is a modern copy of earlier German mache’ head dolls.
23. Doll number twenty-three is was manufactured by Precious Moments.
24. Twenty-four is a massed produced, bisque doll with painted eyes from Japan.
25. Twenty-five is also a massed produced, bisque doll with glass eyes from Japan.

More Collections:

• Memories of Childhood Dolls
• International Doll Collection
• Carmela’s Doll Collection
• Pinkpomegranate’s Collection
• Bunka Doll Collection
• Doll Addict Collects $2 Million-Worth of Antique Dolls

Modern Era Japanese Dolls

Silk-skinned or “mask-face” dolls became a popular craft in Japan in the 1920s and 1930s, allowing the individual to design elaborate kimono for dolls representing women of various periods of Japanese history, particularly the Edo period. Dolls of this type continued to be made and were a popular item for servicemen and tourists to bring back after World War II, though they also might choose dolls representing similar subjects made with gofun faces.

Bisque dolls are made of fired clay. Fukuoka is a traditional center of the manufacture of bisque dolls, and Hakata ningyō are famous throughout Japan.

Anesama ningyo and shiori ningyo (literally “big sister dolls” and “bookmark dolls,” respectively) are made of washi paper. Anesama ningyo tend to be three-dimensional, whereas shiori ningyo are flat. Anesama ningyo often have elaborate hairstyles and costumes made of high-quality washi paper. They often lack facial features. Those from Shimane prefecture are especially famous.

A hybrid of anesama ningyo and shiori nyngyo, called shikishi ningyo, has become popular in recent years. Shikishi ningyo are a type of Japanese paper dolls made with figures and scenes and are mounted on shikishi, a rectangular fancy cardboad about a square foot (about a tenth of a square meter) in size.

More recent and less traditional Japanese dolls are ball-jointed dolls (BJDs), whose growth in popularity has spread to the US and other countries since the advent of the Super Dollfie, first made by Volks in 1999. BJDs can be very realistic-looking or based more on the anime aesthetic. They are made of polyurethane resin which makes them very durable. These dolls are highly customizable in that owners can sand them, change out their wig and eye colors, and even change their face paint. Because of this hands-on aspect of customization, they are not only popular with collectors, but also with hobbyists.

I gave this pair of Japanese Dolls to my younger daughter one Christmas.

I believe they are characters from an opera, but I’m not sure of this.

The lady is dressed in bold reds and blacks. She has a very elaborate hair dressing.

The male is dressed in black and tan brocade fabrics.

Here is a close up of his upper torso.

Above, is a view of his costume from the back.

Related articles

• Mary: Japanese Doll Quilt (sewmakebelieve.wordpress.com)
• Japanese Friendship Dolls 
• Girl’s Doll Festival – Hina Matsuri
• Queen of the Misfit Toys