Rare Large Lithographed Cloth

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19" (48 cm.) Simply-constructed excelsior-stuffed all-cloth doll with short arms,stitched-on red shoes,has a lithographed-mask face with well-defined features and hair,and is entirely- enclosed,excepting her face,in her original costume of printed fabrics known as the Dolly Varden style. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: the Dolly Varden character first appeared in an 1841 novel,Barnaby Rudge by Charles Dickens,and by 1870 had come to refer to a style of fashion that centered about a brightly patterned dress. So popular was the style that popular songs were written about it,plays were produced such as The Dolly Varden Polka,paper doll sets were created,and even a brightly-colored trout became named The Dolly Varden Trout. Howver,by the end of the century the style became parodied into exaggerations of the original,and this doll with its elaborate chintz patterned dress,cape and bonnet is one example,circa 1900,inspired by the actress Lulu Glaser whose most famous role was Dolly Varden.