Antique Black Doll OLD JOE Early Loveleigh Novelty Folk Art Primitive
Item History & Price
| Reference Number: Avaluer:4263247 | Provenance: Ownership History Not Available |
| Country/Region of Manufacture: Unknown | Modified Item: No |
measures approx 7” tall Condition // Very good preowned condition. See photos as the best description of this item. Early Folk Art doll made by Loveleigh. Cloth doll with walnut head, painted face, cloth hat, wood cane and painted black feet (made to look barefoot) History The fabulous Loveleigh Novelty dolls were made in Grantville, GA by Itura Rosalein Colley Leigh, better known as Miss Love (hence Love-Leigh). She started making dolls in 1924 and made them until 1954-56...the last... ones were not painted by her, and the difference is noticeable.The heads are English walnuts with great hand painted faces. The bodies have wire armatures wrapped with cloth and/or crepe paper. The earliest dolls can be identified by the dark red paint around the eyes...this was dropped in later dolls. Their legs and feet are always the same...flat wire that has been covered with crepe paper and painted. Hands are black felt with separate cut fingers. Fabrics and trims were gathered by friends and neighbors...sometimes just little snippets. She used odds and ends from her home in making the dolls...nothing was wasted! Petticoats and pantaloons on the ladies are always the same...off-white muslin with plain wide hems...no trims.
These character dolls depicted black life as she saw it in her town, presenting a dignified portrait of black people, not the usual caricatures. The first doll introduced to the public was "Old Black Joe", a cotton picker. He was followed by "Aunt Lucy" and then came "Mammy's Angel Child"... she was also known as "Topsy." Many other dolls followed including, the Preacher and his Wife, a young woman with an aspirin tin suitcase called Traveling Annie, a coach driver with a whip, a fishing boy, Banjo Players and the Little Watermelon Boy...one of the rarest is "Scarlet's Mammy" with her red petticoat showing.
These character dolls depicted black life as she saw it in her town, presenting a dignified portrait of black people, not the usual caricatures. The first doll introduced to the public was "Old Black Joe", a cotton picker. He was followed by "Aunt Lucy" and then came "Mammy's Angel Child"... she was also known as "Topsy." Many other dolls followed including, the Preacher and his Wife, a young woman with an aspirin tin suitcase called Traveling Annie, a coach driver with a whip, a fishing boy, Banjo Players and the Little Watermelon Boy...one of the rarest is "Scarlet's Mammy" with her red petticoat showing.
