Rare American Carved Wooden Boy in Distinctive Football Costume by Schoenhut

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19" (48 cm.) All wooden doll with carved socket head, painted short brown hair in rare smooth surface, painted intaglio blue eyes, fringed brows, accented nostrils, closed mouth with serious expression, spring-jointed body with jointing at shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, and knees. Condition: generally excellent. Marks: Schoenhut Doll Pat. Jan. 17th, '11 USA. Comments: Schoenhut, circa 1915, model 205 with variation of hair sculpting having a smooth-to-head finish allowing tight fit of the helmet, a nearly identical football costume being worn by the 19" "manikin" doll was shown in the 1914 Schoenhut catalog and an example is owned by the Smithsonian; the "manikin" example has greater attention to detail of guards and football, suggesting this doll may have been made as a special order. Value Points: wonderful state of preservation, the rare boy with variation of hair sculpting is wearing vintage football uniform including fitted leather helmet, shoulder and leg guards, and laced uniform and is carrying leather football.