Vintage Kewpie Doll
The Vintage Kewpie doll renown across the globe.
Above is a picture of a Vintage Kewpie Doll with Clothes!
Children all over the world know of the pleasure of owning or playing with a doll. These toys may look like a baby, a child, or an adult and may vary in size and materials that they are made of. The appeal of dolls however doesn’t only work on children. Adults have also been shown to find dolls endearing and in fact there are those who collect antique and costume dolls as a hobby. One of the more famous doll collectors would be Queen Victoria of England who reportedly had more than a hundred dolls.
The earliest doll-like figures have been seen since the time of Ancient Egypt, but it was only in the 1600’s and 1700’s when the increasing demand for dolls eventually led to a very profitable toy industry. The materials used for these early dolls were mostly cloth, paper, and wax. However, by the 1900’s a great variety of other materials have been explored and used for making dolls, an example of which is bisque or unglazed pottery. One such doll that became popular in the 1900’s and was first produced in bisque is the Kewpie.
These dolls were based on the illustrations by artist Rose O’Neill and were first made by toy manufacturers in Germany. Over the years, other materials have been used to make Kewpie dolls such as composition, plastic, and vinyl, but nothing is more precious and prized by Kewpie enthusiasts and doll collectors than the Vintage Kewpie doll, usually made of bisque.
Because of the many reproductions of the Kewpie doll, someone who wants to purchase a Vintage Kewpie doll should be well aware of the differences not only in the material used, but in the general appearance of modern Kewpies and the earlier Kewpies. First of all the Antique kewpie dolls have blue wings on their shoulders while newer vinyl ones have nude colored wings. Also, earlier Kewpie dolls were usually signed by Rose O’Neill or may have O’Neill printed on it. In cases where there is no O’Neill printed, the phrase, “Made in Germany” is usually placed.
The names of toy companies who manufactured the dolls were not printed before as is the custom now so you can easily identify which company made it. It was also very common for the earlier dolls to have costumes and when you in fact find a Vintage Kewpie doll with a costume, it further increases the value of that doll. Another verifiable mark for vintage Kewpies is the red and gold paper heart that can be found on its chest and a round label found at the back.
