Braided Bun China Head
This German china head doll is referred to as a braided bun in reference to her hairstyle. This hairstyle was popular from the
late 1830s on. The china head dates to approximately the 1840s She has a china head with leather body and is 15 inches
tall. The plaid fabric is silk and common for the era. She has a single center part (unlike the Fany Elssler braided bun) to her
black hair with the hair waves covering the ears (unlike the Young Victoria) into a braided coiled bun at the back of the head.
Her complexion is pink tinted and her eyes are blue. A very similar doll is shown on p 27 of Krombohlz's Identifying German
Chinas. That doll is identified as being from the A. W. Fr. Kister company by the face painting "including the straight eyebrows
and long narrow lips that turn up slightly at the ends". This doll, as similar to other dolls by Kister, does not have an outline or
highlight to the iris. This doll's painting is very similar to the characteristics identified by Krombholz, suggesting Kister as the
maker.
late 1830s on. The china head dates to approximately the 1840s She has a china head with leather body and is 15 inches
tall. The plaid fabric is silk and common for the era. She has a single center part (unlike the Fany Elssler braided bun) to her
black hair with the hair waves covering the ears (unlike the Young Victoria) into a braided coiled bun at the back of the head.
Her complexion is pink tinted and her eyes are blue. A very similar doll is shown on p 27 of Krombohlz's Identifying German
Chinas. That doll is identified as being from the A. W. Fr. Kister company by the face painting "including the straight eyebrows
and long narrow lips that turn up slightly at the ends". This doll, as similar to other dolls by Kister, does not have an outline or
highlight to the iris. This doll's painting is very similar to the characteristics identified by Krombholz, suggesting Kister as the
maker.
