The Maggie Bessie Cloth Doll - A Doll of Simplicity and Grace

Image Courtesy of Theriaults.com

Would you pay tens of thousands of dollars for a doll?  Maybe the question should be would you pay tens of thousands of dollars for a beautiful handmade 19th century doll that is the epitome of simplicity and grace?  If I had that kind of money I probably would - especially if the doll kept increasing in value.

The VERY RARE AMERICAN CLOTH MORAVIAN DOLL KNOWN AS "MAGGIE-BESSIE" IN ORIGINAL COSTUME, shown in the picture above, is from the Theriaults.com website.

According to their description: 13" All-cloth doll with flat-dimensional face, oil-painted complexion, hair and facial features, short brown center-parted hair with feathering details, shaded blue eyes, black and brown upper eyeliner, feathered brows, outlined nose with accented nostrils, closed mouth, stitch-jointed body, oil-painted lower arms and legs....  Comments: created by Bessie and Maggie Pfohl in their Moravian community of Salem, North Carolina, early 1900s. Value Points: the rare American doll is flawlessly preserved with daintily detailed hair, and most endearing expression, with original costume. Realized Price: $13,000.

The A COMPANION AMERICAN CLOTH MORAVIAN DOLL KNOWN AS "MAGGIE-e BESSIE", shown in the picture above, is also from the Theriaults.com website.

According to their description: 13"  All-cloth doll with flat-dimensional perfectly rounded face enhanced by chin definition, oil-painted complexion, hair and facial features, short brown center-parted hair with feathering at sides of forehead, shaded blue eyes, black and red upper eyeliner, feathered brows, outlined nose with accented nostrils, closed bow-shaped mouth, stitch-jointed body, oil-painted lower arms and legs.....  Comments: created by Bessie and Maggie Pfohl in their Moravian community of Salem, North Carolina, early 1900s; the hand-crafted artistry and personality of each Maggie-Bessie doll is evident in this and the preceding lot. Value Points: most appealing shy expression with beautifully painted facial details and blush. Realized Price: $9,000.

I found the pair of "Maggie Bessie" dolls, shown above, totally charming and, of course, had to find out more. After all what could make a pair of dolls worth $22,000 collectively?

I knew there were many different types of dolls created by members of different Moravian Churches for benefits, etc.  I had to know what made these dolls so special and worth so much. Here's what I found:

Topsy-Turvy Dolls - Two In One

Online Collections (The Strong) / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0

Most young girls know what a topsy turvy doll is and want one.  Why wouldn't they? You get two dolls in one.  What's not to like especially if you get a Topsy Turvy: Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf doll, like the one shown in the picture above, from The Strong National Museum of Play.

Credits: Topsy Turvy: Little Red Riding Hood and the Wolf doll, ca. 1890, Material fur | bisque | cloth, Origin France, Style multi-head, Object ID 78.1016.

I've always wanted to make a topsy turvy doll and have always been curious as to their origin.  Since I was doing research on rag dolls I thought I'd do a little research on the topsy-turvy doll.  Here's what I found:

The concept of the topsy-turvy doll is easy to understand.  It's two dolls joined in the middle with the skirt pulled down to cover one of the heads.  When you want to display the other head on the doll you just flip the doll over and the skirt will now cover the head you were just viewing and reveal the other head.

Historically, most of the heads had opposite expressions (i.e. happy and sad) or were characters that were polar opposites (i.e. Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf) but not all were created this way.

In researching their history I found several interesting articles about the topsy turvy dolls also known as Topsy and Eva, their ties to a dark past: slavery and Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Here's what I found: