How to Know When You're Buying an Antique Doll

Examine the doll hair. Antique dolls have antique human hair wigs. On modern doll hair, the hair will be synthetic. Human hair is course and may be matted in sections, because of age. Look at the crown, where the wig is attached to the head. Often, wigs were sewn onto bisque and porcelain antique doll heads and can be lifted up to reveal a hollowness within the head. That is where the doll was molded together when manufactured.

Lift up the hair to examine the neck. Antique dolls were generally marked with maker's numerals and names on the back of the neck, carved into the doll. Look up these marks in guidebooks. If you are familiar with antique doll makers and their marks, look at current antique doll book price guides to get an idea of values before purchasing.

Use a magnifying glass to look at the eyes up close. Antique doll eyes were always made of glass, never plastic. Antique glass doll eyes look eerily real, because of the coloring in the glass. The craftsmanship was superior in earlier times, when doll makers made dolls that were exact replicas of children.

Examine the doll clothes. Antique doll clothes, if original, will be old and weathered, unless the doll was kept in a pristine, enclosed condition. Examine the doll joints, legs and arms. Antique dolls were often jointed, and attached with a rubber band. Modern dolls may be jointed, but will not be made of the same types of materials. Feel the doll for weight. Larger antique dolls, especially those made from composition, generally feel heavier when held.

Examine the doll body. See if the body is made from composition materials, porcelain, or bisque. A composition doll will have a heavy body that is white, gray or brown. Check to see if the body is stuffed with sawdust. The sawdust will be in the torso of a cloth doll body, used on old doll bodies considered inferior at the time. Look at the shoes or feet of the doll. On old sawdust dolls, the foot is a molded boot, often painted black. On porcelain or composition dolls, the fingers and toes look realistic.