Sasha

As a child, the doll I really wanted was Sasha – as made from the early 1970s by Trendon in the UK, and designed by Sasha Morgenthaler (1893 – 1975) in Switzerland. But even I realized that these high-ticket items were an impossible dream, and it was unlikely that Santa would stump up the sums required. So I contented myself with occasional trips to the town’s poshest department store, where I would press my nose against the window and gaze at the Sasha doll display. At the time, my mother subscribed to Golden Hands magazine – a weekly crafts publication – which occasionally printed knitting instructions of outfits to fit Sasha and her brother Gregor. But it wasn’t to be: much as I encouraged my mother to admire the style of these ensembles, I imagine she was at least one step ahead of me. My childish logic anticipating that once she could be persuaded to make some of the outfits, she’d be charmed into buying the doll.

As an adult, when I rediscovered my interest in dolls, it was natural for the very first doll I bought on eBay to be a dark-haired Sasha. She wasn’t pristine by any means, but the years of previous play-wear only added to her charms. There were plenty of chalky marks on her arms and legs where some child had knocked her against a door post, leaving a little residue of white paint as evidence. These were soon cleaned off with a gentle rub of extra-fine grade sandpaper – the doll equivalent of anti-aging cream. If only it worked so well on humans!

Sasha Morgenthaler’s vision was to create dolls that represented and reflected the spirit of children of all races and cultures during their age of innocence. A protégé of Paul Klee, she was active in European artistic and social movements. From the 1940s until her death, Sasha created one-of-a-kind 20 inch cloth, gypsum, and plastic dolls in her studio, these dolls are museum-quality works of art.

But these original dolls were too expensive for most families. Sasha’s dream was to make an inexpensive play doll that would have universal appeal. In the mid 1960s she developed the 16 inch serie play-dolls, manufactured in Germany and England, that became so popular around the world during the 1960s – 1980s. These dolls have beautifully stylized bodies in quarter scale, are asymmetrical, and have realistic proportions. They are perfectly balanced and can assume many poses without a doll stand – they can even stand on their heads! Their skin colorings were chosen to represent all the children of the world, and they have individually hand painted faces with receptive expressions, to reflect whatever mood its child will give it. Here’s a link to an interesting comparison of Sasha with a modern fashion doll.

Sasha Morgenthaler was fiercely protective of her dolls and their image, she quickly saw off any imitators such as Moni the interloper!

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