The first Clown was introduced in the early 1930's model 213. He was available in two sizes 16 and 19 1/2 inches . The doll had a moulded character face slighlty winking eye similar to other characters that Norah Wellings made. I have seen the head made in both velvet and felt and the face painted in Clown Style with painted hair and separate ears and a jointed head. Sometimes the face is painted white. Only the head is jointed and the Clown Suit is a velvet all in one suit with pom poms down the front and organdy and felt ruffle around the neck. He also has felt shoes and felt hat with art silk pom pom decoration.
I had a very interesting photo from Daniel Agnew showing model 213 with the head made of oil cloth and I wonder if this material was used to see what worked best for this model so it may well be one of the earliest made. A big Thank you to Daniel for letting me show the photo's in this article.
The next Clown made was produced just after model 213 and is model 204, very strange that the higher model number was the first to be made but I have checked my records and this seems to be the case but I will keep checking to see if I can find out why but at this stage a mystery. The head is made in the same way and same painting as model 213 but the Clown outfit is an integrel part of the body in velvet. This model came in more sizes 10 1/2 inches, 14 inches, 16 1/2 inches and 19 inches. He appears in the 1936 catalogue but not from the 1938 catlalogue onwards.
None of the clowns are shown in early photographs of the Norah Wellings Stands at the British Industry Fairs. Both these models are hard to find today and very interesting to add to your collection especially as they are earlier dolls only produced for 7 years.
Happy Hunting
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