Edwin M. Knowles Doll: Little Miss Muffet
Name/Title
Edwin M. Knowles Doll: Little Miss MuffetEntry/Object ID
2026.131.01-02Tags
Doll, Edwin M Knowles, Classic Literature, North America, Popular CultureDescription
Edwin M. Knowles Doll, "Little Miss Muffet". The doll depicts the literary character, Little Miss Muffet. The doll is dressed in a yellow and white checkered dress, it has a white peter pan style collar with embroidered orange and white flowers on it, it also has white eyelet material and yellow ribbons on the cuffs. Under, she wears white bloomers and white shoes. Over top. she wear a white apron, it is trimmed with matching eyelet material and also features the embroidered flowers and yellow ribbon. On her head, she wears a white bonnet tied with yellow ribbon. Around her wrist, she has a white string hanging, it is attached to a pipe cleaner spider. In her hands she holds a bowl containing whey, and a wooden spoon. The doll is blonde with her hair tied in two braids tied with yellow ribbons. She also has blue eyes. Her head, arms, and legs are China, her body is fabric. She sits on a brown plastic stool (02).Use
Collectable itemContext
Edwin M. Knowles was born in 1869, the son of Isaac Watt Knowles, founder of Knowles, Taylor & Knowles Co. (one of the largest American pottery companies at the turn of the 20th century). A graduate of Harvard, Edwin took control of Potters Supply Company in East Liverpool, Ohio in 1890. Ten years later, Knowles founded Knowles China Company, which became Edwin M. Knowles China Co; the manufacturing was centered in Chester, West Virginia, but expanded to Newell, WV a decade later. In 1931, the company would consolidate to a single plant in Newell. These two plants, operating at once, helped cement West Virginia’s place as the third-largest state producing pottery in the United States, behind Ohio and New Jersey. Though the pottery was made in West Virginia, the company advertised its location as East Liverpool, Ohio, as exhibited in the 1910 advertisement below. Edwin died in 1943, and the company folded in 1962. In the 1980s and ‘90s, the Edwin M. Knowles name resurfaced, copyrighted by a group with no connection to the original company; this new iteration of Edwin M. Knowles created and sold collectible plates, often depicting scenes from famous films like Gone With the Wind or The Sound of Music. Edwin M. Knowles produced a popular line of collectible porcelain dolls primarily between the mid-1980s and early 1990s, with most identified, limited-edition, and Ashton-Drake Galleries-distributed pieces dating from 1986 to 1992.Collection
Edwin M. KnowlesCataloged By
Kat BezaireCategory
Doll