LENCI, THE EARLY YEARS

By Florence Theriault

Here’s a trend that holds true across all categories of doll collecting. The early years of a dollmaker’s work are often overlooked. Instead, it’s the golden years of a particular doll that are most sought by the novice collector, the period when the doll artist or firm has achieved excellent quality control, both in materials and in production. And so it is with the Lenci doll, because it is her fashionable, colorful and wonderful child dolls from the 19291935 era that are most sought today, while important and extremely rare dolls from the 1919-1925 era are often overlooked.

That is a pity, for the dolls of these early years have other important values. They clearly project the dollmaker’s artistic vision. They are more visionary, more experimental, not at all hesitant about being different. And since the background of the dollmaker is often artistic or intellectual, rather than profit-making, the hard facts of business have not yet impacted their work. Three early 20th century women whose dollmaking years began this way were Kathe Kruse, Sasha Morgenthaler and Elena di Scavini. It is the early dolls of Elena di Scavini that are shown in this article.

In the post WWI years, as Scavini cast about for a life purpose, she rambled into the making of dolls. To this end, she remembered her own favorite childhood doll of rags and wood, of which she said, “My doll was nothing and therefore she could become anything”. After her initial experiments in making a doll of canvas, she realized that she wanted a fabric that could be molded. Felt, of course! Just like a hat, and so it was a hat factory she turned to for the production of a thin felt fabric that could be pressed onto a mold. Thus, the firm was born.

While 1919 and 1920 were the first years of production, and it is true that the quality of the felt was less refined than that of the golden years of the late 1920s, it is also true that the dolls from this era overcame that impediment through sheer force of characterization. This was the era of celebrity doll, of winking or sulky characters, of theatrical mainstays from Commedia dell’arte or circus figures that hinted back to Elena’s own teen-age years in the circus. Her studies in photography surely inspired a fascination with Hollywood silent film stars of which the most notable she created was Valentino as The Sheik. But there was also Josephine Baker, Tom Mix, Jim (Gene) Tunney and Jackie Coogan, who were specially named in the Lenci catalog, and others whose characterization was vaguely suggested such as Marlene Dietrich and Raquel Meller.

Right: At 27”, the rare female variation of the popular Pierrot doll, inspired by Madame di Scavini’s fascination with Commedia dell Arte, featured a unique face and carried a guitar rather than the traditional mandolin.

Right: At age 15, Elena di Scavini ran away and joined the circus for a year. The ambience of the circus influenced and inspired her throughout her creative years as a doll designer, seen here in the 21” earliest period 1920 clown with uniquely modeled face for this doll only.

Left: “Bombita” was the name of 1920s era legendary bullfighters Emilio and Ricardo Torres. Lenci celebrated their matador fame in her 1925 doll, actually labelling the doll “Bombita” in her catalog, one of few examples in which the celebrity was actually named.

Middle: The scandalous performance of the seductress Salome was presented by Lenci in the first year production of her dolls, 1919/1920. It appears to have been made for one year only and was constructed with unique (and expensive to construct) swivel waist, the better to portray the dance contortions. The 16” doll is extremely rare.

Right: Standing 23”, the stern-faced red-haired man represents a character from the elite cavalry guard of the Russian Cossacks, and dates prior to 1923. It is likely that the prominence of the Cossack during the political upheaval in Russia, 1917-1922, inspired Elena di Scavini’s creation of the doll.

One particular character serves as example.

This was Jim (Gene) Tunney who held the world heavyweight title from 1926 to 1928. In 1926 the Lenci firm presented a doll “178/A Tunney” in boxing costume. It appears to have been offered under that name for only one year, so it is intriguing to wonder if licensing issues occurred, as often happened during these early days of the licensing industry. Interestingly, three years later, another doll appeared in exactly the same costume, described simply as “1005 Boxer”, and then in 1931, once again in a tiny 6 ½” size as “Series XX/6”.

Since the mid-1800s, Europeans had been fascinated with the “Wild West” of the United States. When Hollywood’s silent films rolled around, this fascination was heightened, so it was no surprise that among the very first group of dolls offered by Elena Scavini in 1919/1920 there were the “#6 Cow Boy” and “#1 Chef Indien”. Soon after appeared Tom Mix who had starred in American Western silent films from 1909 onward and was known to be admired by Madame Lenci, as evidenced by her 1926 doll “178 Tom Mix”.

The early dolls of Elena Scavini and the Lenci firm offer great opportunity for collectors seeking to connect their dolls with historical and cultural changes. Did the famous Salome doll of Lenci represent a particular