Collection Everyday Life Culture II
Toys
Character baby (41 Kbytes)
- Title: Character baby
- Manufacturer: Franz Schmidt und Co
- Origin: Georgenthal near Waltershausen
- Date: ca. 1910
- Material: Bisque, composition, glas, textile materials
- Technique: Cast, painted, sewn
- Size: 39 x 19 cm
Since the end of the 19th century, Thuringia had been a center
of bisque doll fabrication. In contrast to the cheaper heads made
of wood, paper mâché, or composition, the Thuringia
dolls were manufactured more expensively, not so much as to play
with but rather as to look at. Around 1908 the character doll
was invented in Germany. They were supposed to look like real
children or babies; the idealized old head was replaced by a more
naturalistic one. This replacement started the triumphant march
of the individually made, expressive doll face.
