Gebrüder Heubach 6894

Salvaged closed-mouth socket head (circumference 7.5 inches) was used to make this reproduction head (circumference 6 inches). Marked 'Gebrüder Heubach 6978 Germany'. [Heubach Character Dolls and Figurines Richter and Schmelcher: Figure 15 Page 38.]
Restored as child using a reproduction all-bisque straight leg toddler body with reproduction: painted eyes and hair, cotton clothes and underclothes. See below for further construction details.
Original made by Gebrüder Heubach (1910-1938) circa 1912, who produced extraordinarily moulded character heads, usually with painted and moulded hair, intaglio eyes and closed mouths. Character heads first appeared around 1908, and differed greatly from the usual doll faces at that time.

The Gebrüder Heubach made this type of pouty face in a number of different mould numbers. It is very appealing. The original head has one side of his face badly damaged and the other in fair condition. I am not certain yet how I might restore it. Someone has repaired the porcelain loop for stringing using a two-part resin like Milliput which means if I re-fire it the result will be uncertain (well - the resin will certainly be destroyed). In addition while I was cleaning it I noticed a green mark on the base of the neck which I have to admit in my ignorance I tried uncessfully to remove. In fact it is a genuine Gebrüder Heubach marking (they were either red or green) which is not fired paint and thus it would also be destroyed in the kiln.
In the meantime I decided to make my first head mould in order to make a reproduction, which I did, with a lot of advice and assistance from my teacher Anne Lim. It was very successful and I have discovered since (having made 2 other head moulds) that I was very lucky with this first attempt. The original doll, illustrated in the Heubach book, is shown as a baby with bonnet, but to me he seems more readily to be a child doll. The straight-legged toddler body mould (which was poured in porcelain) is intended for an SFBJ pouty, and seems to suit him very well.
The shirt and trouser pattern is from the Brown House Doll pattern range, adapted to fit the body. My partner thinks the shirt is too 'girly' for him, and I am not sure that I don't agree. The shoes are made from the blue moleskin trouser fabric with navy cord trim and cardboard soles, using a German slipper pattern from Goody Twoshoes workbooks for doll shoes. The socks are hand knitted in stripes of navy and red using soft cotton 4-ply which I separated into single strands to achieve the thickness I wanted. I would not recommend this technique; wool is plied to give it strength, and using the single strands was like trying to knit with cobweb.