The 19th c. Continued; Wax dolls

Wax Religious or Devotional doll, 18th c, Antique Doll Collector Magazine

For my money, Mary Hillier's book on Wax Dolls is the best source.  Wax dolls quite a history and ancestry, and because of their connection with Voodoo and magic, they are a bit mysterious. There are some wax dolls around that are over 400 years old or more, with many made during the 19th c.  The Bronte Children played with wax dolls, and Nellie Olesen had a fantastic example in Laura Ingalls Wilder's On the Banks of Plum Creek.  Morbid Anatomy, another blog, features examples of wax Venuses, or female anatomical models used to teach anatomy.  Many were created by Sra. Morendi, a master aritst an anatomist. Of course, the incomparable Mme. Tussaud set high standard for wax modelling, but after here came Marsh, Pierotti, Montanari, Vargas, Peter Coe and Paul Cree, Sheila Wallace, Bobbi Langkau, Gladys McDowell and more. There are rare wax over metal and wax over comp or pm dolls, and Brigite Deval created wax over porcelain masterpieces.

Wax, attributedd to Rohmer, Theriault's.com

For more on wax dolls, see my site Doll Collecting at About.com, collectdolls.about.com. Here is an excerpt  from dollreference.com on Wax Dolls:

Some of the oldest known existing examples of dolls have been found made of wax,  There are three basic types of wax dolls. 

 

Ancient-1800s Poured Wax Dolls are made of tinted wax, hair is inserted into the head, have molded eyelids, realistic facial modeling and hollow poured limbs, sometimes marked on shoulder plate. 

 

1800-1900s Wax Over Dolls are made of clear wax, molded hair or wigged, no molded eyelids and solid limbs. 

 

1860-1890 Reinforced Wax Dolls are made of tinted wax, wigged, molded eyelids, realistic facial modeling and hollowed poured limbs.