Wood Doll

Composition Kewpie Doll

Rose O’Neill is an artist whose illustrations of the first Kewpie were printed in Ladies Home Journal as early as 1909. The Kewpie doll’s status grew after this. It was 3 years later, in Ohrdurf, Germany, that the dolls were first made out of bisque. Around the 1860′s, French and German toy makers accepted the bisque used to make the dolls. The Borgfeldt Company spoke with Rose O’Neill about creating the doll, and their affiliates in Germany created the first Kewpie bisque dolls.

Following the First World War, the US quit importing dolls from German manufacturers because they were simply not able to meet the demand for dolls in the US. Then Americans started making Kewpies in the US, and the Cameo Doll Company owned by Joseph Kallus was one of the first to do so.

This marked a great change in the material aspect of Kewpie dolls. Americans then decided to stop using bisque and use compounds like composition and vinyl instead. Bisque is a relatively costly material, exacerbated by its fragility. Another reason relates to the emergence of composition as a material for doll-making. For these reasons, the composition Kewpie doll is among the most popular offerings made by the Cameo Company.

A mix of glue and wood dust was set into a mold to harden, to make the composition Kewpie doll. Composition dolls received a very thick coat of flesh-toned paint to get the skin-colored texture that bisque dolls are known for. Features such as eyebrows, eyelashes, lips, and cheeks were painted onto the doll’s faces after this step. After the dolls were painted, they were covered with a protective varnish that sealed the composion and helped the paint.

Composition Kewpies took the place of Bisque Kewpies because composition is a more durable, long-lived material. After this change had been made, children in the 1920s admired the composition Kewpie doll even more. The composition manufactured dolls can resist the frequent damage due to playing. After so much use the doll will show signs of cracking paint or a break in the composition, which you will discover in an Antique Kewpie nowadays. Also, don’t keep Kewpies in places that are too hot or cold or where the humidity is too high because these dolls may crack in these conditions.

The 1940’s saw the advancement in better plastics, which is why doll makers ceased using composition. All manufactures eventually stopped using composition and turned to hard plastic for their dolls because it lasted longer.

Nico Vega

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