Micale Cloth Dolls

I'm posting some photos comparing different Michael Lee cloth dolls. For more information on this doll maker please see my March 15, 2009 post....

Above is a photo of an older Micale cloth mother and baby side-by-side with the 1989 doll shown in my earlier post. In addition to the size difference, the flesh material has changed and the painting of the faces becomes more modernized and simplified. Thus far all of the cloth Micale dolls that I have seen, do have the five fingered hands with two mid fingers sewn together.

The sweet sister doll picture above is very similar to the cloth Micale doll on display at the Mint Museum in Singapore. Both dolls' outfits have the traditional Chinese frog clasps, and the little girl has two children appliqued on her tunic (one with individual loose pigtails).

I am assuming that this particular mother doll is a good bit older than the others, but currently have no way to verfiy this information.

Peggy Nisbet

Because it was not until recently that I began gathering information about dolls and dollmakers, my knowledge is very limited. Where I currently live, I do not have access to English language books whether through a library or bookstore; so most of my data is gleaned from searching websites. In regards to Peggy Nisbet, she herself has written two books on the subject of her life and work: "The Peggy Nisbet Story" and "Peggy Nisbet Collector's Reference Book." I, however, have only this little bit to share....

The Nisbet company produced costume and portrait dolls during the time period ranging from the early 1950's on in to the late 1980's. Peggy Nisbet began making dolls in her home at Weston's Shrubbery in 1952. In 1953 she created a doll replica of Queen Elizabeth II wearing her coronation robes. It was very popular and started her business on the way to international recognition. Her factory was located in Weston-super-Mare (Somerset, England) until it burned to the ground in 1970 taking doll design data and patterns with it. Thankfully Ms. Nisbet and her production manager, Ms. Mabel Perry, were able to recreate most of their costume patterns from memory.

Peggy Nisbet's doll lines included Peggy Nisbet Costume Dolls, the Royal Doulton/House of Nisbet Dolls, & the House of Nisbet Vinyl Fashion Dolls. Some of her doll themes included American Presidents & First Ladies, Dolls of the World, and milestones in the lives of the Royal Family. She was known for immortalizing famous royals, film stars, and political figures as well as documenting traditional dress of countries around the world.

In 1975 Jack Wilson's Canadian Investment Company acquired control of Peggy Nisbet Ltd. and Jack Wilson became Chairman. (The company was then located in Winscombe, Avon, England). He changed the name to House of Nisbet Ltd., and introduced its Childhood Classics traditional teddy bears. Peggy Nisbet's daughter, Alison, designed this range. Later she and Wilson were married and carried on the Nisbet tradition. Dakin UK bought House of Nisbet in 1989.

One source stated that Peggy Nisbet passed away in May of 1996 while another recorded that she died in 1995 at the age of 86. I would appreciate any information related to this incredible woman's actual date of birth and death.

The above information was taken from the following websites:

http://www.n-somerset.gov.uk/Leisure/news-20070724-dollcollection.htm?_Page=35
http://www.thisisbristol.co.uk/wdp/lifestyle/Living-doll-s-house/article-1054573-detail/article.html
http://www.geocities.com/mrspayne223/nisbets.html
http://www.luckybears.com/encyclopaedia_nisbet.asp
http://www.achome.co.uk/antiques/instant_collections.htm
http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/wsmfboldcodgers/history.htm

The doll pictured below is the only Peggy Nisbet which I currently possess. I believe her to represent the country of China.

Ada Lum DiDi

I believe this to be an Ada Lum DiDi (literally translated "little brother" but also used for any very young boy) doll. He is 18" in size with individual fingers, attached ears, and carefully embroidered features. He also has the Chinese style ponytail or cue. Even little children in China today often have part of their heads shaved in warm weather. Usually now, however, a small patch in the front is left unshaven. The interesting thing about this particular doll is that he is wearing split pants. These are typically worn by Chinese children before they are potty trained (which is fairly early), but are fast disappearing in cities with the common use of disposable diapers.

Large Chinese Cloth Doll

I recently acquired this Chinese cloth doll which is a bit of a mystery to me. The seller said he was purchased from people who had lived in China during the 1940's. He is about 21" long and has attached ears and individual fingers. His facial embroidery, however, is unlike the unique small full lips and sweetly upturned smile line of a typical Ada Lum face. His eyes are also thin, but not slightly slanting and lack the large Lum pupils. His carefully constructed outfit (vest, tunic, pants, socks, shoes, and hat) shows wear; and he is one of the few dolls that I have seen sporting western-style short hair.

Small Pearl Gets a Cleaning

I normally wouldn't wash any part of a vintage cloth doll, but Small Pearl is already so damaged; I didn't feel I could hurt her more. Her outfit is already faded and I can see places were the red edging has bled on to other parts; so I will hand wash it in cold water. I also read an article that said I could, rub cornmeal, cornstarch or talc into the fabric to "clean her." Then I'm supposed to let her sit for 2-4 hours, followed by brushing her well.


Small Pearl's powder "bath" didn't really seem to make much difference (although she has now acquired a nice talc smell). So I am considering plan B. I have also read that I can open a seam, de-stuff her, and then wash her body material. I am considering amputation - doing one leg at a time and seeing how she does.

Dream World Dolls

Dream World Dolls are lovely composition dolls from around the 1940's with painted side glancing eyes and sweet expressions. They have mohair curls and usually some kind of hat or veil - as they often represent a nation, storybook character, historical figure, or bride. Around 11" or 12" in size, they were mass produced fairly inexpensively. Their clothes are stapled on and most wear socks and cream colored shoes. They are unmarked, but can some times be found with their original blue tag. Dolls with their original box and tag are more valuable. My doll is a Dream World oriental.



More information on Dream World Dolls

The following is some more information that I gleaned about "Dream World Dolls" from the article "DOLLS IN 'FOREIGN COSTUMES' AT TOY FAIR IN THE 1940'S" written and photographed by John Axemore. (DOLL READER, Hobby House Press, Inc. Cumberland Maryland 13:2 Feb/Mar 1985: 126-133. Print.) Mr. Axe notes that foreign costume dolls, in general, tend to be dressed in representative regional costumes that are associated with a country. While the authenticity of the doll costumes is questionable, the dolls themselves possess a beauty of their own and are helpful in allowing little girls to see that there are other peoples and cultures out there.

These 11in or 27.9cm dolls of the 1940's were actually distributed by several companies. Their figures being identical, they are acknowledged to be of molds coming from a single source. (It was common practice in the 1940s for one molding company to make composition dolls from identical molds for various firms to market and perhaps finish a little differently.) Two companies, in fact, Herbert H. Krause & Associates (Chicago, Ill) and National Costume Doll Co (New York, NY), distributed the same doll, in almost identical costume, and with like names. Unless accompanied by the "Dream World Dolls" blue tag with the moon, the dolls are almost impossible to differentiate. This fact raises the possibility that the dolls were even dressed and processed by the same source. "Dream World Dolls" distributed by Herbert H. Krause & Associates were advertised in Playthings magazine from February 1944 to June 1947. National Costume Dolls distributed their dolls around the same time period under the names "Dolls of All Nations" & "Fairy Land Series."

Characteristics of "Dream World Dolls" include:
*made of composition and fully jointed, unmarked
*head slightly molded with a strip of waved mohair (not true wig, although one advertisement noted that the their coiffs were styled by Armand)
*blue painted side-glancing eyes (my doll's eyes are an exception)
*stapled clothing
*stiff cheesecloth underclothing, braid trimmed
*white leatherette shoes with a shoe string across the instep

Another company using this particular doll mold was Mary Ryan Company (NewYork, NY). They called their line "La Madelon Dolls" by (not made or designed) Madeleine Frazier. Advertised as better quality dolls with a "french touch," these dolls have removable clothing often tagged with the "La Madelon" name. Their costumes are said to be of little girl length with skirts and dresses falling at either the knees or the ankles. In 1944 these dolls sold for $5-6.

Two other more famous companies also used this particular 11in, 27.5cm mold. Madame Alexander made a Scarlett O'Hara doll and (according to the article) Arranbee, a Nancy Lee. These dolls, however, had cut out sleep eyes and were painted and finished with more detail and care.

An Initial List of People & Agencies Connected with Cloth & Composition Dolls in Hong Kong

1. Ada Lum - cloth dolls (attached ears and individual fingers) (see previous post)

2. Michael Lee (Micale, Mica-le) - composition and cloth (1946-1996) (see previous post)

3. Tripod Mark - composition & cloth dolls (attached ears and individual fingers)

4. Crown Brand - composition http://breezeb.tripod.com/dollschinese.html

5. The Christian Family Service Center (related to the Church of Christ in China) - a handiwork project which employs 125 families - composition?
A.B.F.M.S. in Hong Kong, "Ling Ling Say Say which, broadly interpreted, means Miscellaneous." the Hong Kong Peak Oct 1968

6. Hong Kong Christian Service HKCS (merger of Hong Kong Church World Service & the Hong Kong Christian Welfare and Relief Council -1967) - "the Handwork Department gives work to 116 workers who because they are (disabled) or for other reasons not easily employable would otherwise be dependent on welfare assistance" - cloth dolls (tagged?)
A.B.F.M.S. in Hong Kong, "Hong Kong Christian Service." the Hong Kong Peak Oct 1968

7. Lutheran World Federation Project - cloth dolls (most seem to have silk outfits, yarn hair, and embroidered features including the ears in black; the fingers are stitched, but usually not separated) These dolls seem very similar to the HKCS dolls which is understandable since in January 1976, "the Lutheran World Service (Federation) merged with the Hong Kong Christian Service and became the service arm of the Hong Kong Christian Council." (http://hkcs.org/about/overview-e.html)


Marketing:
1. The Catholic Women's League "formed Operation China Doll in the United States and marketed 25,000 economically priced cloth dolls made by Hong Kong's refugee women."
http://Surface, Bill, and Jim Hart. FREEDOM BRIDGE! MARYKNOLL IN HONG KONG . New York: COWARD-McCANN, Inc., 1963.156.

3. SERRV International (created 1949 by the Church of the Brethren, now independent) "The name SERRV is an acronym for Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation and Vocation.... The program grew from assisting WWII refugees to working with impoverished people throughout the world. SERRV began importing handicrafts from the world's least developed countries as a way to alleviate poverty. By 1960, with the help of Church World Service, a nation-wide network of churches were selling SERRV crafts as part of their mission work."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SERRV_International


Dolls maufactured on the mainland:
1. Shaohsing Industrial Mission, Shaohsing, Chekiang Province, China (now Shaoxing Zhejiang) - miniature Chinese mission cloth dolls usually attached to a card.

"It is estimated that the population numbers three hundred thousand, of whom about one-quarter are engaged in the manufacturing of spirit money. You probably know that this is paper money in various shapes, covered with a thin coating of tin-foil and used in the idol worship of the temples. You can easily understand the acuteness of the problem of a man or woman who, engaged in this business, learns to know Jesus Christ and wants to acknowledge him in church- membership. He can not go on with his business and be true to his new-found faith, nor can he give it up and readily find anything else to do. How are we help- ing him to meet this situation ? Miss Dowling of Shaohsing began the manufacture of dolls and thus started an industry which now employs two hundred people, largely women, who are free to worship their Saviour without losing their means of livelihood. It also gives independence to some who can not live at home after they have become Christians. Today there is a successful business built up in Shaoh-sing, not only in the manufacturing of all kinds of Chinese dolls, but also in the cross-stitch work which is seen so much at present on luncheon sets and handker-chiefs."
PRESCOTT , NELLIE G.. THE BAPTIST FAMILY IN FOREIGN MISSION FIELDS: A MISSION STUDY BOOK FOR ADULTS AND YOUNG PEOPLE . New York: The Judson Press, 1926.140-141.

A set of five family member dolls, ranging in size from about 3"(largest) to 2" (smallest) & still attached to the card bearing the mission name, just raised a bid of $107.50 on ebay (but the reserve price was not met). Other cardless ones have sold from $25-28.

2. And of course the exquisitely hand-carved wooden dolls with elaborately detailed costumes created by the Door of Hope Mission - Shanghai (early 1900's)
Kimport dolls - was one importer of the Door of Hope dolls
http://www.dollsmagazine.com/antique-vintage-dolls/160-chinas-door-of-hope-mission-dolls.html

Lotz Door of Hope page