Friday, May 30, 2014

Sasha From Canada

16-inch Sasha doll with dark skin, brown eyes, and red hair by Sasha Morgenthaler

No this doll was not made in Canada.  She was most likely made by Trendon Ltd., Stockport England.  Doll artist and Facebook friend, Frantz Brent-Harris, creator of Sonadolls, found the above preloved Sasha at a flea market in Canada.  He offered her to the first taker for his cost plus shipping.  My new doll arrived the Saturday before Mother's Day as shown above.

I washed and rolled her hair, then treated a stain that I discovered on the side of her right leg.  See the following pictures for these details:
Sasha's auburn hair has been washed.
She sat still while her hair was sectioned and rolled.  I left the rods in until dressing took place some two weeks later.
Leg stain prior to Oxy-10 treatment.  The stain was faint, but I wanted to treat it.
Oxy-10 was applied and left on the stain for 7 days.
After 7 days, the leg stain faded some.  I applied additional Oxy-10 for another week.  More fading took place.  The stain is still visible but not enough to cause worry.


During Sasha's leg stain treatment, she remained nude.  At the end of treatment, I dressed her in the perfect dress, tights (that cover the leg imperfection), and shoes that were all on hand.

 Sasha shows off her lovely locks that were finger-combed.


Wearing the bolero jacket that matches the dress, Sasha has joined Sasha #108 who has been here since the summer of 2011.  The older doll arrived with her original white dress, which I cannot locate at present.  The two are now BFFs and display quite well together.

Shown below are Gotz babies Andrea (1996), a redhead; and brown-haired dolls Celina (1996), Christina (1997), and Toni (1999).  Like the 16- and 17-inch Sashas, the babies have dark caramel complexions. 



Ebony complexioned Sasha dolls and two brunettes with caramel complexions can be seen in a previous post. As a result of my new Sasha and this post, I purchased the book, Sasha Dolls:  The History by Anne Votaw, Ann Louise Chandler, and Susanna E. Lewis. 


What Are Sasha Dolls (from Wikipedia.com)
Sasha dolls are a type and series of doll created by Swiss artist and dollmaker Sasha Morgenthaler (1893–1975), produced in Germany and the United Kingdom beginning in the late 1960s. Popular with collectors, Sasha dolls are characterized by their individualism, their realistic expressions, their unique color, and the extreme attention to detail in the manufacture of the dolls as well as their clothes. It is said by Juliette Peers that: "Sasha dolls are renowned for possessing a solid intellectuality, despite their bizarre origins as representations of holocaust victims."[1] Morganthaler created face sculpts for her dolls with subtle expressions to not dictate artificially exaggerated smiles, her concern that children surviving the horrors of WWII would not relate to dolls so happy in times of terror. Morganthaler, herself, "When she was sad, she did not like her dolls uncompromising smiles. Once she grabbed a nail file and scraped off her doll's false grin..." In her own words, "No grotesque caricature can awaken a child's true feelings. A piece of wood, barely carved, is far superior to a conventional doll with an exaggerated smile."[2]  Read more.
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1. Mitchell & Reid-Walsh (2008). Girl Culture: An encyclopedia. p. 29.
2. Votaw & Chandler & Lewis (2011). Sasha Dolls, The History. p. 10.

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12 comments:

  1. I would imagine children faces would reflect this expression knowing the meaning in their eyes. It not like the are said but wish for happier times. I'm glad she found her way to you and all in all she is finally home and I know she is happy to be surrounded by her new found family. The dress is so perfect for her and she looks good with her new BFF.

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    1. Thank you, Brini. The Sasha dolls do have pensive expressions. They appear to be in deep thought. They are like mini mannequins, but that stands to reason because Sasha Morgenthaler created shop mannequins and one of a kind dolls prior to entering into an agreement with Gotz to have her doll designs mass produced.

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  2. Thanks for sharing this information about the Sasha dolls. I used to want a Caleb. They are larger than my preferred size, but they look so wistful even I find them endearing. Don't have any yet, but I could almost see one of them landing here.

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    1. Endearing is an excellent description for Sasha dolls, D7ana!

      I think I now want another Cora.

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  3. I'm sure she liked getting all snazzy again. She's going to enjoy her new home!

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    1. She has settled in nicely, Muff. I might re-treat the faded stain on her leg now that I know first hand how well Oxy-10 and sunlight work together.

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  4. Congrats. I love the picture of her in her rollers. She seems to be quite happy there in her new home. Love her little red and white dress. That is my first time seeing the Sasha babies. The baby girl in the pink dress is calling my name. Of course, I am ignoring her, but what a cutie.

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    1. Thanks, Vanessa!

      You would love Christina (the Sasha baby in pink and white), but I understand if you must ignore her, you must.

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  5. Hi! Your Sasha redheads are both English dolls, made by Frido/Trendon in Stockport, Cheshire. The one you got from Canada is either a Ballerina or a Dungarees, made from 1968-1970. The White Dress looks like a 1979 to me - the later White Dress dolls have lighter vinyl.

    I just discovered your blog - it's great!

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    1. Hello Treefrogdemon - so glad you discovered my blog. Thank you for taking the time to help me further identify my Sasha dolls. I have added the information you shared to their separate entries in my doll inventory spread sheet and will soon see if I can location the specific versions you have identified them as in my most recent book about Sasha dolls: Sasha Dolls The History.

      Thanks again!

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  6. Ah yes, the lovely Sasha dolls that you showed me last night. Your fixer upper turned out very well.

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    1. Hi RM-1987. Thank you for finding and reading the post. I modified it to change the color of her hair and her place of manufacture. On September 2014, a blog reader's comment described her as follows: Hi! Your Sasha redheads are both English dolls, made by Frido/Trendon in Stockport, Cheshire. The one you got from Canada is either a Ballerina or a Dungarees, made from 1968-1970. The White Dress looks like a 1979 to me - the later White Dress dolls have lighter vinyl.

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