Guest Post: Through the Eyes of a Leo Moss Collector: Bev’s Story

Through the Eyes of a Leo Moss Collector: Bev’s Story 

An 11-inch doll by Leo Moss

By Beverly W. Flowers

I have focused my doll collection on vintage and antique black dolls by developing a strategic plan that required daily hunting for these rare and valuable dolls. I never imagined I would be asked to guest blog on Black Doll Collecting by Debbie Behan Garrett as a collector with a Leo Moss doll. The offer should not have surprised me. Debbie has supported and encouraged me throughout the years. She has promoted black doll collectors and artists in her books, articles, websites, the We Love Black Dolls Anew Facebook group, and through her Black Doll Collecting and Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black blogs. We owe so much to her dedication and I thank God that Debbie never gave up her daily sharing of doll information.

My Doll Collecting Journey

I started collecting dolls over 30 years ago to honor Maggie Pearl, my mother. Mom supplemented my Christmas gifts by making clothes for my Barbies. I did not appreciate her labor of love until she died from breast cancer at 42-years young. Reality sunk in when I realized the only things I owned were doll clothes and a $150 car.

I began collecting black Barbies because I thought they were lovely and shared Mom’s classic beauty. Eventually, my three jobs could not feed my lay-a-way habit. So, I started an entrepreneurial business in 1988 called Exquisite Showcases. I had magnificent glass display cases with exotic woods, which I varnished, and then were hand-assembled by an artist. I planned to sell them at doll shows even though I had never been to a doll show. I just thought everyone needed display cases for antique dolls but not one case sold. I believed a beautiful black antique doll would highlight my special display cases. However, the shows only had white dolls and dealers assured me that I could neither afford nor find an antique black doll.

         Eventually, I repeated this to my future husband, Bill, that doll dealers said I would never see or own a good black doll. He found it offensive that I would allow anyone to create a ridiculous barrier to my dreams. Bill’s life theory still is based on the philosophy that everything is possible if you are prepared and have the will.

In 1997, Bill handed me a piece of paper with strange words, “eBay.com.” He suggested selling my Barbie dolls and investing in dolls that stood the test of time and had the potential to gain even more value. He could not wrap his head around mass-produced collectibles as a stable investment. Bill reassured me that selling dolls would allow me to buy antique dolls that would hold their value and could be displayed in my cases. His idea ignored two significant facts. I did not have a computer, and I was not going to sell my barbies. My brother Mike, who had accompanied me in those painful sell-less display case days, happily gave me his computer. Bill sealed the deal with a promise that when we married, every dollar I made selling anything would go to buying old dolls. The money would never be used to solve household financial stresses. Thus, selling Barbies would allow me to transform my modern collection into a unique ensemble of vintage dolls that represented my mother’s spirit and the life of people of color. I was sold on selling.

Leo Moss Dolls

Leo Moss portrait doll

        I forget what year, but eventually, the Mr. Leo Moss doll was offered on eBay. However, I was not sure about bidding five thousand dollars on him. I would have to strip my collection down to the bones to come up with the money. Also, my doll notes were scattered, and I had no idea which magazine had pictures of him. I could dig up the money with a massive doll sell-off but not the confidence. I had a tremendous buyer’s remorse when the doll sold.

I vowed that I would never again freeze because of a lack of knowledge. I would become an expert in all the dolls I wanted to collect seriously.  I cut and pasted every article and advertisement with Leo Moss dolls in all the available sources into a computer log. I also went through all the doll magazines from the late 1970s to track Leo Moss dolls as they moved from auctions to collectors and back again.

I noticed that auction houses frequently used the tag “attributed” to Leo Moss dolls, leaving doubt about authenticity. I wondered how experts in identifying artist reproduction of Bru dolls could not confirm a Moss considering that Betty Formaz and Rubin Quintano were the primary artists working in Leo Moss’s style, and their work was distinguishable from real Mosses.

I believe the root of the confusion on the authenticity of Leo Moss dolls can be found by examining articles written about the dolls. Steva Roark Allgood wrote an article entitled “To Leo with Love” in the Fall 1987 Doll News magazine. Steva found that Moss created dolls for children and not as art. The bodies were awkward and poorly proportioned. More importantly, Steva concluded most Moss dolls are unmarked. Myla Perkins adds to dealer uncertainty by noting in her book, Black Dolls: An Identification and Value Guide 1820-1991, that Formaz had bought heads without bodies (see plate 29 in Myla's book).

Therefore, I can reason that unmarked heads and inappropriate bodies or “new” bodies on old heads resulted in uncertainty about the authenticity of Moss dolls. Dealers hate uncertainty and were already suspicious about all these recently discovered Moss dolls entering the market from a single source, Betty Formaz. Dealers may have chattered that Betty, being a doll artist, made the Leo Moss dolls. Again, Betty’s dolls and Rubin’s dolls are distinguishable from Leo Moss dolls from an artistic point of view and the material used. She sold the dolls almost immediately after purchasing them, and I do not know of any existing Moss molds.  

Dealers that never handled a real Leo Moss may have inadvertently bought Betty Formaz and Rubin Quintano dolls and passed them into the market as authentic Leo Moss dolls. Thus, the major factor that contributed to the use of the term “attributed” may have been the sellers' need to skirt any liability to buyers. The few experts on the dolls cautioned auction houses that they were selling reproduction dolls. Even Myla, who may have owned the most extensive collection of Leo Moss dolls, warned about Moss reproductions in her first book Black Dolls. However, Myla in her second book writes on page 33, “see page 417, plate 1654 for an excellent example of a new Moss look-alike.” Here she points the reader to an artist doll by Rubin Quintano done in the Moss style and not a deliberate fake by a con artist.

 

Prior to becoming part of Debbie Garrett's doll collection, Cecily by Rubin Quintano ca. 1992, a 22-inch Moss-style doll, was featured on page 417 in Myla Perkins' second Black Dolls book.

        I reasoned if dealers were confused, there must be confused collectors that thought they had a Formaz or Quintano when they had a Moss doll.

My strategy was to find unmarked and unappreciated Moss dolls being sold because of the confusion caused by the uncertainty of handmade artist dolls. The dolls are dark; thus, it is difficult to see the differences between artist dolls and real Moss dolls in low-quality pictures. I have tried to take an accurate count, but I may have double-counted some dolls because of a change in clothing or the angle of the new photo. Myla said there are 50 known Moss dolls.

I decided to hunt for even more Moss dolls that may be in auctions, flea markets, or antique shops. But first, I would have to be an expert in Leo Moss dolls without owning one.

I had to find someone willing to show me a real Moss doll. I would have to ask dealers again, but by this time I knew my way around a doll room. A few years later, I stumbled upon someone who owned Leo Moss dolls and was willing to share knowledge. I was introduced to the word “handle.” She allowed me to feel the weight, see the coloring, hair patterns, marking, breastplates, and bodies of these rare dolls. She allowed me to do the same with the dolls created in the Leo Moss style. I was taught how to differentiate between a real Leo Moss and a replica style. I was one of the few people in the world that had handled one, and it was intoxicating.

Two Opportunities of a Lifetime

Held at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History in Detroit, Michigan, the "I See Me: Reflections in Black Dolls Exhibition ran from September 20, 2016, through June 25, 2017.

I believe it was June of 2017 when I stumbled on a Facebook page advertising an upcoming exhibit of the largest collection of Leo Moss dolls. What an opportunity! I could compare variations of eyes, skin smoothness, colorings, and hair patterns. I could tell by the pictures that the dolls were from Myla’s books. We had a week to fly to Detroit to the “I see me: Reflections in Black Dolls” exhibit sponsored by the Motor City Doll Club at the Charles Wright Museum.

An emotional tidal wave rolled over me in the exhibit room as I spread out years of notes and pages from Myla’s books and Debbie’s articles. Everything about that exhibit blew my mind. I absorbed every feature like a sponge, but until then, I did not know that Myla owned them. I had counted her dolls in my total, but I had been waiting years for some of Myla’s dolls to appear in circulation.

My day begins by brushing my teeth and checking my doll searches for Moss dolls, and a few others. In March of 2019, I opened my eBay searches to see an auction for a “Vintage Leo Moss Doll Buy it now $200.” The seller was paid before I read the full description. I then read the full description over and over again while waiting for a word from the seller. 

When the doll did arrive, the seller included a handwritten note:

“Thank you for your purchase. I enclosed a newspaper clipping on the doll. I was lucky as a child to see this exhibit in Detroit. I believe in the 70’s? I bought this from a woman in Royal Oak, Michigan who repaired dolls then. Glad to hear that the doll is going to a new place. I’m slowly selling my collection. I have no children to pass the collection on to.”

Her Name is Maggie Pearl

Named after Beverly's mother, Maggie Pearl is an unmarked 1800s doll by Leo Moss.

Maggie Pearl is an unmarked 1800’s head with glass eyes.  She is 11 inches tall with molded hair and painted lips. She has a replaced body. Her neck socket is professionally stuffed to hold the head.

Authenticating Maggie Pearl required finding a small Leo Moss doll that was made during the same period in Leo Moss’s artist life. I needed to find a doll with the same bumpy complexion, dimples, and youthful look. Myla Perkin’s first book showed a similar doll, see Black Dolls, book one, plate 25:

 

 “Tiny baby, 10” tall.  This is the smallest of the Leo Moss dolls to have been purchased from the Moss family. It has a papier-mache head and bent leg jointed baby body. Head has inset tiny glass eyes, molded hair. Doll was made in the late 1800s and is unmarked.”  

However, Maggie Pearl was not a baby. I needed to find a toddler or adult.

"Tiny Black Paper Mache Boy by Leo Moss" in a photograph courtesy of Frasher's Doll Auctions is the doll Beverly used to authenticate Maggie Pearl as a Leo Moss doll.

I found a doll from Frasher’s Doll Auctions, Lot 158, that was presented as a young boy.  The catalog description read:

“TINY BLACK PAPER MACHE BOY BY LEO MOSS. Marks: None. 8 1/2”. Black paper mache head and body, tightly curled sculpted hair, boyish-like fashion, prominent brown inset glass eyes, closed mouth, impressed dimples, jointed shoulders, and hips, wears original cotton overalls. Commentary: Very unusual example of early work by Leo Moss. One of the smallest sizes known to exist. Very good condition.”

The back of Maggie Pearl's head, neck, and upper back are illustrated in this photo

I confidently concluded that Maggie is an early 1800’s head because Steva noted in the previously referenced Doll News article that the “later dolls have a very smooth finish that resembles porcelain.” Maggie’s face is not smooth.  I also know her body was professionally replaced by examining the neck socket.  The seller said she had the doll for years and bought her from a doll doctor in Detroit.  Hopefully, a reader knows the complete story behind Maggie Pearl and can fill in the missing pieces of Maggie’s Journey to me.

Maggie Pearl is seen in a close-up that illustrates the details of her sculpted face and hair.

Now, Maggie Pearl is displayed in the very same mahogany framed glass case that experts told me would never hold an antique black doll. She is the result of a plan to see and learn as much as possible about the works of her artist. See the pictures and be amazed at a never published (until now) Leo Moss doll. Please, no flash photography (I always wanted to say that). 

Maggie Pearl is posed with the 40th Anniversary Barbie to illustrate the doll's diminutive height when compared with other Leo Moss dolls.

References:

Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide 1820-1991 by Myla Perkins

Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide: Book II by Myla Perkins

Frasher’s Doll Auction (Tiny Black Paper Mache Boy)

“To Leo with Love,” Doll News, Fall 1987 by Steva Roark Allgood

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Thank you so much, Beverly, for sharing the doll-collecting journey that led to acquiring the perfect Leo Moss doll for an exceptional, once-in-a-lifetime price! I am sure the readers of this blog enjoyed your story as much as I have enjoyed it. 

This post can also be read on my sister blog, Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black where a related four-part story about Leo Moss dolls was the first post.

For more information about Beverly and to follow her blogs on Black Memorabilia, Black Art, and Black Dolls, visit her website, Antique Black Dolls and Things.

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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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The Formaz Four

Leo Moss-type dolls by Betty Formaz circa 1980s

Whenever someone asks me, "What is your Holy Grail?" with reference to a desired doll, my answer remains, "an original Leo Moss doll." As noted in an earlier post about this 1800s-born Black man from Macon, Georgia, he made dolls in the likeness of family, friends, and on commission from the 1890s through 1930s. Moss dolls sell for several thousand dollars today, which is the reason I do not own an original.

The woman credited for bringing Moss dolls to the attention of the doll community during the 1970s, a collector and doll artist herself, is Betty Formaz.  She later began reproducing his dolls, many with the signature tears that Moss gave his dolls.  Formaz (now deceased) is said to have met one of Moss's daughters, Ruby, during the 1970s, from whom she purchased several originals.

My first Formaz doll was found on Ruby Lane in January of 2013 and featured here.  My second Formaz doll, which has not been discussed on my blog because it is part of a submitted article about his dolls, was purchased on eBay in June of 2013.  I have communicated off and on with the same eBay seller since that purchase.  She recently informed me that she had other Moss reproductions by Formaz to sell and sent me photos of four different dolls. These four now reside with me.  A collage photo of the group of four is the first photo.  Additional photographs and details about the four follow.

This 15-1/2-inch boy wears a green velour cap, matching overalls, blue
and gold knit turtleneck and brown real leather shoes.  He has a firmly stuffed brown cloth body and the Moss signature teardrops.  It is said when Leo Moss sculpted a doll in the likeness of a baby or young child, if the subject cried during the process, the tears were added. Another reason cited is that Moss began adding the tears to many of his dolls after his wife ran off with a white traveling toy salesman from whom Moss had purchased doll parts.  His wife took with her their youngest child, leaving the rest of the children behind with Moss.  I am inclined to believe the first reason, which reportedly was told to Formaz by Moss's daughter, Ruby.

This boy has black molded curly hair.  The head, upper arms, hands, lower legs and feet are made of a composition-type material.  The brown eyes are sculpted into the mold.  His sad mouth is open, exposing the tip of his tongue.

A set of 15-inch twins, a boy and a girl, dressed in coordinating red outfits have identical head sculpts cast in porcelain.   Their head sculpts are also the same as the overall-clad boy's sculpt.  Their differences from the boy include their darker complexion, frowning eye brows, and black knit material used for their bodies, arms, legs and feet.  Only their heads and hands are porcelain.

Like the first boy, the twins have black sculptured curly hair. 

The fourth doll is a 16-inch full-body porcelain girl with ball and string joints.  Her head sculpt is identical to the doll Formaz named Ruby (possibly named after Leo Moss's daughter), which is featured on page 315 of Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide by Myla Perkins (Collector Books 1995).  An identical male doll by Formaz, named Leo, is also identified in Perkins' book (most probably named after Leo Moss.)  My doll has brown inset eyes, tear-stained cheeks with one teardrop underneath each eye, and a down turned sad mouth. The hair is a black wig of soft curls.  She wears a lavender Dotted Swiss dress, off-white slip and pantaloons, white knee-high socks, white shoes, and a lavender straw hat embellished with flowers.

While these four and my other Moss reproductions are not the real thing, I remain hopeful that I will one day own an authentic Leo Moss doll.

An an in-depth article on Leo Moss dolls resulting from months of research, can be read here.

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Leo Moss-Type Doll by B. Formaz

Back in early January during a Ruby Lane sales event, I browsed the site for "black dolls" and stumbled upon what my eyes could not believe I was seeing in the tiny thumbnail image of the doll I initially recognized as a Leo Moss or Leo Moss-type.  The price of less than $100 is why I could not believe what I was seeing as original Leo Moss dolls sell for several thousand dollars in today's market. 


After enlarging the Ruby Lane image and reading the dolls' description, entitled black bisque doll, it became apparent that the doll was fashioned in the likeness of a Leo Moss doll and quite possibly, according to documented information about his dolls, was molded from an original sculpt.  The indicator of this was the seller's description that the doll was signed "B. Formaz."  (Oh-my-goodness, I thought.)  This revelation took place during the wee-wee hours of the morning while still in bed, surfing the Internet with my Kindle Fire during an episode of insomnia.  I immediately went to the doll room to get a better look at the images, to read the description, and to make the purchase on a safer device (my desktop computer) before going back to bed, happy about the find.

Leo Moss-type doll by B. Formaz

After the doll arrived, I photographed her, as usual, and entered the purchase information in my Doll Inventory Excel spread sheet as follows:

Description:  Probably made from an original, circa late 1800s through early 1900s Leo Moss mold [this is the seller's unproven assumption]; 15-inch character baby has porcelain head and hands; brown stockinette body, legs, and feet; brown inset eyes with tear stained cheeks, typical of Leo Moss dolls; open/closed mouth with molded tongue; frowning eyebrows; black molded tightly curled short hair; wears pink and white gingham dress, matching bonnet with ruffled trim and floral appliqué, matching panties, white socks, pink felt Mary Janes with black soles; signed B. Formaz on neck.

Under the heading, Other, I wrote:
B. Formaz is most likely Betty Formaz who, according to Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide 1820-1991, "brought Moss's dolls to the doll collecting world after having visited the home of Ruby Moss, daughter of Leo Moss. Betty purchased 39 of the Moss dolls and acquired most of the information on the artist."  Described by Perkins as a collector and restorer, I believe Betty was inspired to sculpt dolls in the Moss fashion after discovering his dolls.

While my doll is a bisque and cloth rendition, Moss, a native of Macon, GA, and handyman by trade, sculpted his doll heads of paper-mache without the use of molds during the late 1800s through early 1900s.  He purchased manufactured bodies from a New York toy supplier. 

Moss used family members and friends as subjects for his dolls.   Research shows if a child cried during the sculpting process, he included the tears. A twist to this story is Moss added tears to child dolls after his wife left him and all, except their youngest child, a baby, to run off with the NY toy supplier!

Close-up of Hattie

I am uncertain what caused my doll's tears.  The doll's original name also remains a mystery.  What I do know is that it was made by the woman who brought Moss's dolls to the doll community.  Initially I was going to name the doll Betty, but I kept hearing the name Hattie in my head after she arrived; so Hattie she is.

In searching the Internet for additional Leo Moss-type dolls made by Betty Formaz, I was able to find only one other.  Described as a circa 1974 doll, it is not as distinctively Moss as my Hattie.  This other doll did, however, win a first place ribbon at the United Federation of Doll Clubs' 25th Annual Exhibit in Miami, Florida and can be seen here. 

For more information about Leo Moss dolls, the reader is referred to my prior blog posts at the following links:
http://blackdollcollecting.blogspot.com/2010/02/moments-in-black-doll-history-leo-moss.html
http://blackdollcollecting.blogspot.com/2010/02/moments-in-black-doll-history-leo-moss_03.html

An an in-depth article on Leo Moss dolls resulting from months of research, can be read here.

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