Norah Wellings Dudu #119

Name: Dudu #119 South Islander

Made by and When: Norah Wellings, 1930s

Material: Stuffed velvet and velvet over a sculpted face, jointed neck

Marks: MADE IN ENGLAND / BY / NORAH WELLINGS (on partial black cloth tag sewn to left foot)

Height: 14 inches

Hair/Eyes/Mouth: Black short, curly mohair wig (some hair is missing from crown, covered by a scarf)/brown glass eyes side-glance to the doll’s left, eyes are lined in black/smiling mouth with red painted lips and six separately painted teeth.

Clothes: Orange and neutral colored grass skirt, orange arm bracelet, raffia grass tied below left knee

Other: According to Gillian Trotter, the author of the Norah Wellings Journal blog, glass eyes were used between “1927 and mid-1930s and the later ones had painted eyes.” View other installed Norah Wellings dolls here and an example of a rare 36-inch Wellings doll here.

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Published by DeeBeeGee

Doll collector, historian, co-founder of the first e-zine devoted to collecting black dolls; author of black-doll reference books, doll blogs, and doll magazine articles.

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