$15,000
Sold
sold
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Description
15" (38 cm). All cloth doll with flat-dimensional
face, V-shaped
stitching at crown, oil painted facial features and
center-parted
brown hair, shaded blue eyes with black upper
glancing pupils,
black eyeliner, red eyeliner, brown feathered
brows, outlined
nose with accented nostrils, outlined philtrum and
dimple,
closed lips with center accent line, stitch-jointed
body with oil-
painted limbs, defined thumbs, antique calico
dress and
sunbonnet, undergarments, shoes. Condition:
generally
excellent. Comments: late 1800's, known
as "Maggie-Bessie"
doll in reference to the two Moravian sisters of
Salem, North
Carolina who created this distinctively American
doll. Value
Points: very rare doll is preserved in impeccable
original
condition, and its quality certainly a rival to the
rare and sought-
after works of American itinerant portrait painters
of the same
era.