Vintage Mid - Century - Ada Lum - Chinese Cloth Dolls - Mother And Child
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:18594604 | Handmade: Yes |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: Hong Kong |
These all-original dolls of a mother and child are classic examples of Ada Lum's work in Hong Kong in the 1940s to '60s. Her handmade dolls represented her Chinese countrymen in their typical, everyday dress.
A genuine Ada Lum doll is distinguishable by its excelsior-stuffed cloth body constructed to sit easily, carefully detailed fingers and ears, and beautifully embroidered facial features....r> This adult doll has black wool hair in a low, thick pigtail of black wool tied with a red ribbon and there are bangs on the forehead.
Her round face is precisely embroidered and she has applied ears, cutely defined with hand stitches. Her hands have individually stitched fingers.
She wears a blue, peasant outfit of woven cotton with tied-waist pants and a top with mandarin collar and frog closures. Under the blue outfit are similarly detailed pants and shirt made of white linen. Her shoes are hand sewn and removable, but tight fitting.
The child doll also has a beautiful face and the skin of the head is fine, ivory silk, rather than cotton. She has a top knot laced with a red wool tie and her cotton print outfit is a front-wrapped top over tied-waist pants. She has bare feet and simple hands and embroidered ears.
condition: Generally superb vintage condition--complete, precisely constructed, and all original with no tears or stains other than a lightly discolored area on the mother's forehead and some light, mildew spots on her face.
Measures 13" tall, child measures 6 1/2".
Ada Lum began making and selling dolls in Shanghai in the 1940s. When the Communists took over China in 1949, Ada Lum and her family fled to Hong Kong, where she employed other Chinese refugees from the mainland and she continued her business in her home. Her dolls grew in popularity and by 1962 she had opened a shop in the Mandarin Hotel where she was discovered by tourists who bought her dolls as the perfect reminders of their visits and of the Chinese people.
A genuine Ada Lum doll is distinguishable by its excelsior-stuffed cloth body constructed to sit easily, carefully detailed fingers and ears, and beautifully embroidered facial features.
Her round face is precisely embroidered and she has applied ears, cutely defined with hand stitches. Her hands have individually stitched fingers.
She wears a blue, peasant outfit of woven cotton with tied-waist pants and a top with mandarin collar and frog closures. Under the blue outfit are similarly detailed pants and shirt made of white linen. Her shoes are hand sewn and removable, but tight fitting.
The child doll also has a beautiful face and the skin of the head is fine, ivory silk, rather than cotton. She has a top knot laced with a red wool tie and her cotton print outfit is a front-wrapped top over tied-waist pants. She has bare feet and simple hands and embroidered ears.
condition: Generally superb vintage condition--complete, precisely constructed, and all original with no tears or stains other than a lightly discolored area on the mother's forehead and some light, mildew spots on her face.
Measures 13" tall, child measures 6 1/2".
Ada Lum began making and selling dolls in Shanghai in the 1940s. When the Communists took over China in 1949, Ada Lum and her family fled to Hong Kong, where she employed other Chinese refugees from the mainland and she continued her business in her home. Her dolls grew in popularity and by 1962 she had opened a shop in the Mandarin Hotel where she was discovered by tourists who bought her dolls as the perfect reminders of their visits and of the Chinese people.
