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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lizjewel, post: 4330042, member: 13874&quot;]I only know a little about dolls, it&#039;s never among my specialties. However, I&#039;ve been around quite a few in my day, including those belonging to collectors who always seemed eager to extoll the particular values of their charges. Just observing the details of various specimens dating to from over 100-150 years ago, I have the following observations to make about this particular example. Some of them are based solely on socalled profiling, not on any evidence I can present:</p><p><br /></p><p>1. I believe this doll is older than 1920-30s. Possibly from just around the turn of 1800-1900s, before or after. Why? Just a feeling based on the contents of sawdust in the body, the &quot;shoulder head&quot; that was common then (yes, I know, later also). I can&#039;t tell if the head is porcelain or papier-maché but I&#039;m guessing porcelain because it&#039;s too well preserved to be the latter, it would have accumulated some scuffs over the years.</p><p><br /></p><p>2. The face is rounded, the mouth very, well, &quot;eloquent&quot; in shape. This was the face of Russian dolls, with healthy rosy round cheeks to go with. The hair is dark as on a proper Russian beauty, paired with the deep blue eyes which always was a desired look on Russian women, thus mirrored in their dolls.</p><p><br /></p><p>3. The head ornament may not be a comb but rather a belt, hair or shoe buckle ornament in stamped metal, common in the late 1800s and way into the 20th century. It was considered the &quot;jewelry of the poor&quot;, sold by itinerant peddlers to the villagers. Some would always be lying around and such a piece could have been used to decorate this doll. Not original equipment in other words.</p><p><br /></p><p>4. The skirt looks like a replacement. The color appears too bright, the fabric newer, the lace is too modern machine-made, bright white, machine-stitched on as well and the styling is more reminiscent of the 1950s than the era of the doll&#039;s age. The blouse in a different shade of white may be original, slightly soiled, faded with age. Or just an older replacement.</p><p><br /></p><p>5. The booties may be a replacement also, lovingly handknitted by the doll&#039;s owner or sewn together of old knitted material. It&#039;s hard to tell if they&#039;re hand- or machineknit from this picture. Although faded white they&#039;re too new-looking to be original.</p><p><br /></p><p>6. An original outfit for this type doll would have included a pair of boots or shoes in some soft leather or leatherlike material available back then. They are missing so we can&#039;t attach an age there. I would bet on laced boots rather than &quot;Mary Janes&quot; that were a later look on dolls. It&#039;s a shame that this footwear is not there.</p><p><br /></p><p>7. Caveats in my Profiling: The doll could be Polish as well as Russian. The dark hair is not necessarily a no-no on Polish made dolls. They had dark hair as well as lighter shades, blonde. The doll could also be from Germany or Austria, but hardly Italy or Spain. Older Italian dolls had brown eyes, not blue, same with Spanish dolls. The doll appears a little too primitive to be French which is why I have left that out as a guess.</p><p><br /></p><p>In summary until other evidence is presented: I vote for Russian, Polish, German or Austrian provenance. Other input eagerly awaited. Thank you for your time!</p><p><br /></p><p>Update: Tried to find an antique Russian doll that resembled the OP&#039;s. Nothing like it exactly but many similar. Found this interesting portrait photo of Russian children c:a 1900, on an <a href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/164776096080?hash=item265d6bb150:g:kwIAAOSwYjdgT-uH" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="https://www.ebay.com/itm/164776096080?hash=item265d6bb150:g:kwIAAOSwYjdgT-uH" rel="nofollow">eBay auction</a>:</p><p><a href="http://lizjewel.com/ART/russian-children-doll.jpg" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://lizjewel.com/ART/russian-children-doll.jpg" rel="nofollow">http://lizjewel.com/ART/russian-children-doll.jpg</a></p><p>Sorry, my edit didn&#039;t allow me to find the place to post the full picture. The doll is in the lower left corner, very similar to OP&#039;s doll.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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