Door of Hope Mission Wooden Dolls 1901+ China
ca. 1910s Door of Hope Mission Bridal party wooden dolls; a Bride dressed in red the color of happiness, Groom, children dolls.
The Door of Hope mission dolls history, was a protestant mission created in Shanghai or Canton, China in 1901 to help destitute girls. The dolls head, hands and arms to the elbow are made of carved Chinese pearwood and are smooth as satin, unpainted and unvarnished. The hair, eyes and lips are painted and the doll body is made of cloth stuffed with raw cotton.
The girls of the mission hand made each dolls clothing as an exact replica of clothing worn by the Chinese people of the time including under garments, all of which could be removed. Door of Hope dolls are unmarked, though some dolls had tags that read; N.E. Branch Women’s Foreign Missionary Society as shown below.
It’s believed no more than 50,000 Door of Hope Chinese wood dolls were ever produced.
Door of Hope doll mark NE Branch Women’s Foreign Missionary Society or unmarked.
Door of Hope Dolls with Michael Canadas and Judy Smart, video courtesy of YouTube Rubylane
Door of Hope Dolls, Sicard Collection, July 15, 2015 auction, video courtesy of YouTube Theriault’s Dolls
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