$11,000
Sold
sold
Click image to enlarge
Description
26" (66 cm.) Black-complexioned paper mache socket head, brown glass inset eyes with all-around black eyeliner, strongly-modeled brows with shaded detail, rounded nose with broad nostrils, closed mouth with hint of painted teeth between the nearly-closed very full lips, black hand-tied human hair wig, composition fully-jointed body, antique costume. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: Leo Moss, early 1900s, the doll bears traces of the original SFBJ mold numbers indicating the armature doll which Leo Moss used in this instance to create his own completely different doll. According to Myla Perkins in her book, Black Dolls, it was known that "the doll was purchased in the 1970s from a museum auction in London. The museum records indicate that they had the doll in their inventory in 1920 and that it was made by a black man in one of southern state in the United States". Value Points: extremely rare doll by Leo Moss, whose unusual features include wig and mouth painting, and with fascinating provenance.