A Japanese celluloid baby doll with moulded and painted features and closed mouth, on a five piece bent limb baby body dressed in teddy bear patterned dress and pants. The doll was manufactured by Luck Toys of Japan.

Celluloid was first used for the manufacture of dolls in the 1860s and remained a popular and cheap method for nearly a century until manufacture was halted in the 1960s because of the flammable nature of the material. Celluloid dolls were made in Europe, England, America and Japan, with the peak of production during the period from 1900 to the 1940s.

A great variety of types of doll were created using celluloid including baby, walking dolls and even bathing dolls. Black baby dolls were also popular, particularly as the manufacturers could then avoid the typically bright shiny pink of the material.

Coleman, Dorothy S. The collector's encyclopedia of dolls, New York: Crown Publishers [1968]-c1986

Fainges, Marjory. The encyclopedia of Australian dolls, Kenthurst, N.S.W.: Kangaroo Press, 1993

King, Constance Eileen. The collector's history of dolls, London: R. Hale; New York: St. Martin's Press, 1978, c1977

Doll collecting: Celluloid dolls

Margaret Scott's dolls and collectables: Celluloid dolls

Victoria and Albert Museum: Museum of Childhood. Dolls

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. To be a child August 2004-