No. 12

Ruth

German Antique Toddler Reproduction

Details

Original

German (maker to be confirmed)

Artist

Anna Miller

Type

Toddler

About this doll

'Ruth' is a toddler doll with blonde hair in bunches, wearing a white lace dress and holding a tiny baby doll. Her plump cheeks, the teeth showing in her open mouth and her big blue eyes capture the look of a two- or three-year-old.

Anna Miller made this reproduction of a German antique toddler; the maker of the original is being confirmed.

Background

After Kammer & Reinhardt brought out mold 100, the 'Kaiser Baby' modeled on a real infant, in 1909, German doll companies rushed to make character babies and toddlers. Unlike the idealized girl's face of the 'dolly face' doll, the character baby captured how babies really look: chubby cheeks, a small nose, a laughing or crying expression.

A toddler doll differs from a baby doll in its body. Instead of the 'bent-limb' baby body that sits with its legs curled, a toddler has a jointed body that can stand, topped with a chubby baby face. This doll, standing proudly with her baby in her arms, shows exactly that.

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