"Thelma"
Artist
Moss, Leo
(American, late 19th - early 20th century)
DateEarly 1920s
OriginUnited States of America
MediumBlack-complexioned paper maché head depicting a gentle-faced child with slight smile, black sculpted hair brushed from sides of her face and forming into two very thick vertical braids at the back of head, daintily-sculpted black brows, brown glass inset eyes with black outline, closed mouth with hint of smile, impressed dimples in cheeks, nicely shaped chin and nose, brown muslin torso, brown composition limbs, antique costume.
Dimensions20 in. (50.8 cm)
ClassificationsDoll
Credit LineGift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
Object number2018.4
Label TextCharacter Dolls by Leo Moss (American, Macon, Georgia, died 1936)
This unique group of dolls was created by Leo Moss, an African-American handyman and carpenter living near Macon, Georgia. Initially, he was making dolls with white complexion for sale on the side, purchasing the heads, hands, and bodies from a traveling toy salesman. His wife, a household seamstress, clothed the dolls in outfits created from left-over materials. Moss began making black dolls in the 1890s. He sculpted with paper maché over the purchased heads, presumably using his family as models. These folk-art character dolls may have been intended for children that he knew—members of his own family and his African-American community, as well as the white children in their charge.
Leo Mos, (American, died 1936)
Thelma
Paper-mâché head, round brown glass eyes, brown muslin torso, brown composition limbs, antique girl's costume, unsigned, early 1920s.
Gift of Carolyn K. and Richard F. Barry III
Status
On view
Parent doll/Child doll