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Composition Dolls
About Antique and Vintage Composition Dolls
Prior to the use of composition as a doll-making material, most dolls had heads made out of porcelain or bisque and limbs made of stuffed cloth. The result was a doll with realistic facial features but unconvincing hands and feet.
Composition changed all that. In the 1850s, German doll makers in the town of Sonneberg mixed glue and sawdust to make a viscous composition, which could be molded and then painted once dry—Stephan Schilling was one famous Sonneberg company. In the 1870s, a New Yorker named Lazarus Reichmann perfected the composition recipe...
Early composition doll torsos and upper limbs were often made of stuffed cloth, with the composition reserved for the doll’s arms and legs. Eventually, though, entire dolls were made from composition, giving the doll a more credible appearance.
There were several reasons why the doll industry embraced composition, particularly in the early part of the 20th century. First and foremost, the material was inexpensive to make and easy to work with. Second, it was more durable than bisque, which cracked easily. Companies that made composition dolls included Madame Alexander and Ideal, whose Shirley Temple dolls were a huge hit in the 1930s.
By the 1940s, composition was giving way to molded plastic, which soon left the primitive material in the dust. Composition was not as soft as the new plastics that were coming to market, and never would be. Worse, it was prone to crazing, which gave the dolls a worn-out appearance even when they had not been subjected to hard use.
Interviews & Articles
An Interview on Antique Dolls With Museum Curator Noreen Marshall
We have a very small team here at the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood, so we all have to do lots of differe… [more]
Best of the Web (“Hall of Fame”)
Dollreference.com
This densely packed index of antique and vintage dolls claims to offer over 10,000 images of dolls from the 1800s … [read review or visit site]
Vintage Dolls of the 50s
Rhonda Wilson's collection of 1950s dolls, organized by name (Ginny and friends, Littlest Angel and friends, etc.) … [read review or visit site]
Lorettas Shirley Temple Dolls
Loretta McKenzie's tribute to the charming, singing, dancing, curly haired Shirley Temple. Click 'My Dolls' on the … [read review or visit site]
Kaylees Korner of Collectible Dolls
Kaylee's extensive collection of vintage dolls from the 1930s to 90s. Click the balloons to browse. Though Kaylee s… [read review or visit site]
Museum of Childhood
Embrace your inner child on this microsite from the Victoria and Albert Museum, filled with high-quality images and… [read review or visit site]
Got a site to suggest? Let us know.
Clubs & Associations: Dolls
Discussion Forums: Dolls
Other Great Reference Sites: Dolls
- Musee de la Poupee - Paris
- Nancyanndolls.com
- Ginny-Type Dolls of the 1950s
- Index of American Design: Dolls
- Ginnydoll.com
- Poupendol.com
- Puppenhausmuseum
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Dolls
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