This doll came to me via a private collection recently and has a simply wonderful penciled face!

She stands about 21 ½ inches tall and measures 5 ½ inches shoulder to shoulder. She is entirely hand-sewn out of natural homespun linen and feels to be firmly stuffed with cotton batting and rags. Her construction is such that you can see that she had more than one face during her lifetime. She comes with one that has been peeled back and pinned to her skirt and yet, there looks as if there might be yet another beneath this one. The previous owner stopped at her present one because of its sweet and pleasing countenance.

Having been purchased in Leola, PA Lancaster County, she is wearing her original clothing typically seen on Amish and Mennonite cloth dolls. Her dress is made out of a brown polished cotton, while her wonderful bonnet is made from a brown chambray and her slip is made from navy and white striped cotton flannel. Her bonnet brim still retains its original cardboard stays, as well as it ties and bow although it is a bit worn in spots. Her stitched-on velvet boots are worn in spots so that you can see her linen legs beneath, and her arms (hands) each have a spot that exposes the cotton batting beneath as she was much loved and played with. That having been said, the rest of her torso, limbs and head are all in excellent condition.

She came with a note pinned to her skirt that reads: “Bought from Amish Family in Leola, Lanc. Co. PA. Dolls (sic) name is Sadie”. This was a note that was pinned to it by the dealer from whom the collector purchased the doll.

Her form is typical of earlier flat-style Amish dolls made in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, sort of Lizzie Lapp-style in that she has an hour glass figure. (Please note: I am merely saying Lizzie Lapp style torso, her separately added arms deviate from that style and so I am not implying she is a Lizzie Lapp made doll).

That she has definitive facial features could mean several things: 1. that the final face beneath is plain and devoid of characteristics, 2. The family could have been of a less strict faith, 3. An older child drew the features, etc. etc. One can only speculate.

Price: SOLD