Floria

Name:  Floria

Made by and When: Anili, 1986

Material: Pressed felt head, felt arms, legs, and most of the clothing with a brown cloth body

Marks: (Handwritten on the back) 2/10 86 / Anili

Height: 17-1/2 inches

Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Black curly Afro-type wig, pressed-felt face with dark brown side-glancing painted eyes, closed painted mouth.

Clothes and Accessories: Floria wears a yellow felt hat that is embellished with multiple colors of felt flowers and a bright pink felt hat band that is tied in the back. The long-sleeved dress is royal blue with diagonal bright pink stripes that form a diamond shape. A white cotton half-slip is attached to the dress. A pink silk scarf, white pantaloons, and black felt slippers which are piped in hot pink complete her fashion. With the right index finger, Floria holds the handle of a natural-colored basket in which are multiple felt flowers.  A circular Anili paper tag is sewn to the back of the dress and the business card of Under the Lilac (doll shop) is pinned to the front side of dress.  Handwritten on the business card is Floria Black #2/10 Exclusive for UTL (Under the Lilac).

Provenance: Floria by Anili was an exclusive doll made for Loretta Barrett’s Under the Lilac store, now closed, which was located in Laurel, Maryland. This doll is #2 of 10 worldwide. The company usually made male and female pairs of dolls dressed in similar colors that use the same sculpt as Floria. Floria was made in 1986, during the year Anili doll operations ceased.

Other: “The Anili Doll Company of Italy, was founded by Anili Scavini in 1948, the daughter of Elena Scavini, the founder of Lenci” (Doll Reference).

Gallery

Floria holds a basket of felt flowers.

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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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