English Slit Head Wax and Papier Mache Doll

This doll is a rare survivor from the mid-1800s. She is has a straw filled cloth body, wooden arms and hands, with composition heeled lavender and yellow trimmed boots. Her head is papier mache covered in wax. The slit in the crown of the head allows human hair to be implanted She has hand painted eyebrows inset glass eyes and a molded painted mouth. These dolls were sometimes called ‘Mad Alice’ because their expressions seemed so stiff.