Name: Little Love “My Own Baby” (closed eyes)
Made by and When: Lee Middleton for Lee Middleton Original Dolls, Inc., 1994
Material: Vinyl head, hands, and feet; pellet-stuffed-cloth body, upper arms, and legs
Marks: (Incised in the head) 081094 / ©Lee Middleton 1994 / (Fish Symbol) USA / (hand signed and numbered) Lee Middleton 396/2000 (A warning against copying the doll is incised above the doll’s head marks.)
Height: 20 inches
Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Dark brown, wispy wig; closed eyes with applied upper eyelashes, open mouth to accommodate a pacifier
Clothes: Pink infant’s drawstring gown, white knit hat, disposable diaper; the gown and hat are tagged Spencer’s.
Other: Little Love “My Own Baby” was sculpted by Lee Middleton, a self-taught doll artist, who began making realistic porcelain dolls at her kitchen table in 1979. Because of the time-consuming process of making porcelain dolls, Middleton moved on to vinyl doll-making in 1984 using some of her porcelain doll molds. Her vinyl dolls are described as the first to be numbered and signed and considered collectible. Each of her vinyl dolls came with a mini Bible. After Lee Middleton’s death on January 30, 1997, the company utilized other doll artists to sculpt Lee Middleton Dolls. The tradition of including a mini Bible with each doll continued. Read more on the History of the Middleton Doll Company here.
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