#115

Rare American Cloth Oil-Painted Doll Known as "Maggie-Bessie"
Live Auction

$5,000
sold
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Description
14"(36 cm.) All cloth doll with flat-dimensional face,painted golden-brown hair in soft swirling curls,painted facial features and shaded ears,blue eyes in defined sockets,outlined nose with accent dots,closed mouth with center accent line,center seam at back of head and two side seams,stitch-jointing at shoulders,hips and knees,stitched fingers,wearing early linsey-woolsey dress with velvet yoke and sleeves,undergarments,leggings,boots. Condition: generally excellent. Comments: known as Maggie-Bessie doll in reference to the Pfahl sisters of Salem,North Carolina who created the doll,late 19th century. Value Points: a veritable work of art on canvas formed into a child's doll is superbly preserved in this rarely found folk art object.