Columbian Dolls

Even the hair was painted in oils.

Columbian Dolls were originally made in North America by Emma and Marietta Adams in 1891. 

They can be described as flat faced cloth dolls with oil painted heads, faces and limbs. The brush work in the painted hair is quite unique, they had trompe l’oeil shoes and stockings painted onto the cloth feet, and the hands were painted to distinguish the individual fingers.

Miss Columbia and her (almost) double


Many of the products displayed at the Columbian Exposition later became everyday features of American life. Framed pictures of the Columbian dolls are still sold today. 

The Columbian doll raised a remarkable amount of money for the times on her tour and everywhere she went she was accompanied by her trunk, diary, coat and bonnet and also her double. Just in case anything happened to her, a second, almost identical, doll travelled with her. The doll was presented with gifts by the children she visited and many of these gifts still live in the Wenham Museum, Massachusetts, with the original doll and her belongings. Thousands of people around the world were delighted and moved by the historic journey of the original Miss Columbia, the famous 19-inch doll that circumnavigated the globe to raise funds for children’s charities from 1900 – 1902, a journey which was actually repeated in 2000.

Emma Adams created the dolls and painted their faces and hair with oil paints in a distinctive style. Her sister Marietta then designed and sewed the clothes. The painted limbs were also stiffened with sizing. They were made as boys, girls, or babies and some black dolls where also made.

Their bodies were stuffed with cotton or excelsior with an inner core of sawdust in the heads and torso. By 1903 the bodies of the dolls are merely stuffed sacks with extensions upon which the arms and legs can be sewed. These dolls were available in different sizes ranging from 15 inch to 29 inches, though 19" was the most popular size. The dolls were available wearing pink or blue gingham dresses white dresses a boy suit and a white baby gown all made in cotton. A few were also available wearing only a simple frock or chemise. 

After Emma’s death in 1900, Marietta continued to make the dolls, employing other artists to paint the faces, whose style didn't quite match that of Emma's. Genuine Columbian Dolls have quite a distinctive style of face.

Susan Fosnot offers classes in oil painting including a class on the Columbian doll.

Link to Susan Fosnot:
http://www.odaca.org/

The Columbian was never patented. The dolls were simply marked: 'Columbian Doll/Emma E. Adams Oswego Center New York'.  In 1906  the mark was changed to 'The Columbian Doll Manufactured by Marietta Adams Ruttan Oswego New York'.  There were many dolls made before the stamp came into use. 

It is not unlikely therefore to find an early doll with no mark.

Sally's dolls also have trompe l’oeil shoes and stockings,
though their hands and arms have not been painted.