Edwin M. Knowles Doll: Little Red Riding Hood
Name/Title
Edwin M. Knowles Doll: Little Red Riding HoodEntry/Object ID
2026.126.01Tags
Doll, Edwin M Knowles, Heroines from the Fairy Tale Forests, North America, Popular CultureDescription
Edwin M. Knowles doll "Little Red Riding Hood". The doll depicts the literary character of Little Red Riding Hood. The doll is dressed in a red, black, and blue checkered dress, under it she wears a white long sleeved shirt, a white petticoat with lace trim, white bloomers, black stockings, and black shoes. On top of her dress, she has a white apron. The apron has a lace trim and several white tiers, in two of the tiers there are embroidered panels, one is a green vine with blue and red flowers, the other is green leaves with red flowers. On top of her dress, she wears a red riding hood. The doll also carries a woven basket with a checkered towel in it containing a jar of preserves and a bread loaf. The doll has brown hair in pin curls and blue eyes. She has a China head, arms, and legs, and a fabric body.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