Baby Doll Cardboard.  Spanish doll with the head and the body of papier-mâché. This doll arrived in my hands with its eyes drooping and disassembled. The eyes are made of glass and fixed. It measures about 43 cm.

The Composition Dolls

In many cases, when talking about composition dolls, dolls made of different materials such as papier- maiché, or celluloid and other materials were included.

But experts will create the actual classification of Composition Dolls in those dolls where the head was made of a mixture of glue and wood paste; as a result a material of great durability.

Also called “composition” dolls are those whose body is made of papier- maiché .

Papier maché or stone cardboard has been used in dolls since the early 18th century. Much information has been found in the patent documents of the various manufacturing workshops.

Each doll maker had their own “secret” formula for composition. Very few “recipes” have successfully overcome the ravages of time. Surely its basis was the use of papier-mâché or cloths. Baby Doll Cardboard

The Stone Cardboard Dolls

In many cases included in the classification of Composition dolls

Cardboard-stone or papier- maiché is defined in a dictionary of the late nineteenth century as: “a durable material made of paper pulp containing a mixture of pulp, oil, resin or other substances, from glued sheets of paper and pressed “.

Glue is added to the paper pulp as a binder. In some cases mud or flour was also added to achieve rigidity and solidity.

The word ” papier- maiché ” is used in English, French and German.

One of the first references to papier-mâché dolls is in Fournier’s “History of Children’s Games.” “The first dolls used a mixture of clay, paper and chalk called ‘carton-pierre’ (literally ‘stone cardboard’).”

In the area of ​​Germany this material was known as “cardboard-pâté” (cardboard paste or papier-mâché) where it was poured into the molds of the dolls.

In the. XVIII it was discovered that papier- maiché dolls could be produced en masse, by a process of pressing the dough made into molds on the parts of the dolls.

It was assumed that this process was introduced to Sonnerberg from Paris, laid the foundations of large industry.

You May be Interested in…

Dolls on Pinterest

Other similar dolls