Philip Heath's Welcome to the World African American Baby Boy

Philip Heath's Welcome to the World dolls, ca 2001 were presented in a trifold blue gift box complete with ribbon and Gotz gift tags.

Released in 2001, Philip Heath's Welcome to the World porcelain doll series, manufactured by Gotz,  included African American and Caucasian anatomically-correct girl and boy infants positioned in a modified fetal position.

I included my doll in my second book, Black Dolls a Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion in chapter 5, which is devoted to artist dolls.  A scan of that entry with the 2008 assessed value is shown next.

Heath's African American Baby Boy Welcome to the World doll is seen in this scan from Black Dolls a Comprehensive Guide to Celebrating, Collecting, and Experiencing the Passion, chapter 5, page 262

As indicated in the description in the book, the baby measures 4 inches (10.16cm) from head to toe.  He is unjointed and rests inside a white faux fur-lined gift box, attached to the lining with a metal waistband.  In today's market, the doll would be valued much more than $75.  Additional photographs from different angles are included next.

He is anatomically correct as indicated, with his anatomic parts blotted out in this photo.

My doll's box contained two Gotz gift tags, the inside of both reads in German as follows:

German:
Fur _____, dem süßesten Baby der Welt.  Wir haben uns schon so lange auf Dich gefreut.  Seit _____ bist Du nun endlich bei uns.

Zur Erinnenerung an


English Translation:

For _____, the sweetest baby in the world. We have been looking forward to you for so long. Since _____ you are finally here with us.

To the remembrance

These babies would make a perfect gift to celebrate a newborn infant's arrival to the world, but this one was a gift from me to me the year they were released. 

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Once Upon A Time...

... when I had more patience, I'd do things like braid a doll's hair like I did for Joy.

Joy by Sylvia Natterer for Gotz, 1990s, originally had bone straight hair that hung loose.

Joy is an 18-inch, all-vinyl, string-jointed doll with painted eyes by Sylvia Natterer for Gotz from the 1990s.  Made in Germany, Joy arrived with bone straight, rooted hair with a side wisp of curls for bangs.  I visualized her with multiple microbraids and made that visualization a reality shortly after she arrived during the late 1990s, having been purchased from an out-of-state doll dealer, Lane's Collectibles, I believe.   I did not take before pictures of Joy's hair prior to braiding it several years ago.  In the following photos of a photo from page 390 of Myla Perkins' doll reference (Black Dolls an Identification and Value Guide Book II), the black and white image might offer an idea of how Joy's hair was styled originally.

Several years after Joy's arrival, I found another Natterer/for Gotz doll deeply discounted at Tuesday Morning. 

Cathy is another string-jointed, all-vinyl doll with painted eyes by Sylvia Natterer.  She is from 2003 and stands 17-1/2-inches tall.

Cathy and Joy have been display buddies since Cathy's arrival.  I recently reconnected with the two after adding another similar size doll to their display shelf.  It was then that I decided to free them from the shelf temporarily for photographing and sharing here.

Cathy and Joy pose for a photo together.

Both dolls wear their original fashions and shoes.  Prior to returning them to the shelf, I replaced a couple of Joy's beads, which fell to the floor when I retrieved her.   Both girls are now back on display. 



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