Extremely Rare Large-Sized Stoneware Doll's Head with Cobalt Decoration, Greensboro or New Geneva, PA origin, circa 1880, molded in the form of a child's head with well-detailed hair, the base with pierced eyelets for attaching a cloth body, the surface decorated with heavy cobalt slip to the figure's parted hair, cobalt highlights to the eyes and eyebrows, and delicately-brushed, spotted necklace. Base with unusual second row of cobalt spots and spotted decoration forming stylized daisies around the piercings. The Western Pennsylvania doll's head form is one of the rarest and most-coveted molded items produced in the region. This piece is among the largest known, measuring roughly three times the size of a typical example of this origin. With excellent color and an appealing figural form, this striking work, visible from a distance, can easily be displayed as a stand-alone folk sculpture. Provenance: Recently-discovered in North Carolina. An old, sealed crack along seam line. Old chips along seam line. A 1 3/4" flake to bottom edge. A small in-the-firing base chip on reverse, which is glazed over. H 7" ; W 6 1/4".
