Home > iPhone > On View: ‘Black Dolls’ Exhibition at New-York Historical Society Presents Unique View of Race, Representation, and Play

On View: ‘Black Dolls’ Exhibition at New-York Historical Society Presents Unique View of Race, Representation, and Play

On View presents images from noteworthy exhibitions

AFTER HER BRAVE AND HARROWING ESCAPE from enslavement, Harriet Jacobs was employed in New York by Nathaniel Parker Willis (1806-1867), a well-paid writer and magazine editor who worked with Edgar Allan Poe and Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Jacobs, who titled her 1861 autobiography “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl,” made Black dolls wearing cotton dresses for Willis’s three daughters. Leo Moss, a handyman in Macon, Ga., fashioned white commercially produced dolls into Black dolls, using layers of papier-mache and boot dye to change their features, hair, and skin to make them look like the people in his family and community.

More than 200 objects and Black dolls dating from 1850 to 1940 are on display at the New-York Historical Society, including dolls by Jacobs and Moss. Nearly all of the handmade, cloth dolls featured in the exhibition were made by African American women for their own children or white children in their charge. The Black dolls offer a unique, historic view of race, representation, and play, insights that are explored throughout the show in sections such as Slavery and Abolition, Growing Up with Jim Crow, The Art and Craft of Dollmaking, Child’s Play, and Race Play.

The Jacobs dolls come from an unnamed private collection and 110 dolls are drawn from the private collection of Deborah Neff, whose expansive holdings, including examples by Moss, were the focus of a traveling exhibition a few years ago. In addition to antique dolls, the current presentation includes a selection of commercially produced 20th-century dolls, period photographs that provide context and documentation of the dolls, courtesy of Neff, as well as related ephemera from the New-York Historical Society and other sources.CT

“Black Dolls” is on view at the New-York Historical SocietyMuseum & Library in New York, N.Y., from Feb. 25-June 5, 2022

FIND MORE about the exhibition

LEO MOSS (d. 1936), Doll with Tears, Macon, Ga. circa 1922 (manufactured body, cotton, papier-mâché, glass), “Mabel Lincoln 1922” handwritten on label sewn to torso. | Collection of Deborah Neff, Photo by Ellen McDermott Photography

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Dominique Jean-Louis, associate curator at the New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, provides insights about the history that can be gleaned from the more than 100 dolls on view in the “Black Dolls” exhibition she co-curated. | Video by New-York Historical Society

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

HARRIET JACOBS (1813-1897), Dolls Made for the Willis Family Children, circa 1850-60 (mixed fabrics, metal). | Private Collection, Photo by Glenn Castellano

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Doll in Feed Sack Dress, 1900-25, Possibly Indiana (mixed fabrics, paint). | Deborah Neff Collection, Photo by Ellen McDermott Photography

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Doll in Gentleman’s Top Coat, 1860-70, Milton, Mass. (mixed fabrics, leather, brass, glass). | Deborah Neff Collection, Photo by Ellen McDermott Photography

GORDON PARKS (1912-2006), Untitled (Doll Test),” Harlem, N.Y., 1947. | © The Gordon Parks Foundation, Courtesy of The Gordon Parks Foundation

On View: ‘Black Dolls’ Exhibition at New-York Historical Society Presents Unique View of Race, Representation, and Play

Pair of Dolls with Corduroy Knickers, circa 1895-1915, Possibly New Hampshire (mixed fabrics, leather, animal fur, porcelain). | Deborah Neff Collection, Photo by Ellen McDermott Photography

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Unidentified photographer, Woman and Children with Black Cloth Dolls, 1942 (gelatin silver print). | Deborah Neff Collection

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

CYNTHIA WALKER HILL (1771-1848), Doll Representing an Enslaved Man, circa 1840-48 (cotton, silk, glass, wire, pearl). | New Bedford Whaling Museum, Gift of Mrs. M. Motley Sargeant, 1953.1.2

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Topsy-Turvy Doll, 1890-1905 (mixed fabrics, paint). | New-York Historical Society, Gift of Katharine Prentis Murphy, 1961.30. Photo by Glenn Castellano

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Doll in Blue Skirt, 1890-1900 (mixed fabrics, metal). | Deborah Neff Collection, Photo by Ellen McDermott Photography

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Newspaper advertisement: “Pick Out Your Great Big Beautiful Doll,” Nashville Globe, October 17, 1913. | Courtesy New York Historical Society

Doll with Apron, Late 19th century (mixed fabrics, mother of pearl, beads). | Deborah Neff Collection, Photo by Ellen McDermott Photography

Pleasant Company/American Girl, Addy Walker doll, circa 1993 (plastic, mixed fabrics). | New-York Historical Society, Gift of Nicole Wagner & Wagner Family, 2019.32. Photo by Glenn Castellano

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

Installation view of “Black Dolls,” New-York Historical Society Museum & Library, New York, N.Y. (Feb. 25-June 5, 2022). | Courtesy New-York Historical Society

BOOKSHELFTwo fully illustrated volumes document Deborah Neff’s Black doll collection. “Black Dolls” was published to coincide with the Mingei International Museum show in San Diego, Calif., in 2015. Edited by antique dealer Frank Maresca, the volume includes essays by Margo Jefferson, Lyle Rexer, and artist Faith Ringgold. Accompanying the Paris show in 2018, “Black Dolls: The Deborah Neff Collection,” includes contributions by Deborah Willis, Patricia Williams, Robin Bernstein, Madelyn Shaw, Helene Joubert, in addition to an excerpt from a late 1970s oral history interview with doll maker Nellie Mae Roe (1900-1982). The writings in the book are published in both French and English. “Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl” was first published in 1861. Also consider, “Black Dolls 1820-1991: An Identification and Value Guide” by Myla Perkins.

213total views, 19views today

SUPPORT CULTURE TYPEDo you enjoy and value Culture Type? Please consider supporting its ongoing production by making a donation. Culture Type is an independent art history project that requires countless hours and expense to research, report, write, and produce. To help sustain it, make a one-time donation or sign up for a recurring monthly contribution. It only takes a minute.Many Thanks for Your Support.

Prev: Galaxy S22 Plus vs OnePlus 10 Pro: Which should you buy?

Next: OnePlus Sends Legal Notice To Delhi-Based Lawyer Whose Nord 2 5G Exploded In Pocket