Face Sculpts

117/18

117/18 Kathy and Grace

This is a very early Gotz sculpt that goes back to the 1970s. It was the face of blue-eyed brunette vintage Kathy, and blonde, brown-eyed vintage Grace, among others. I have no knowledge of the sculpt's name if it had one. It does seem to have been used semi-regularly between the late 1970s through the late 1980s or beyond. It can be easily found on the secondary market in a number of soft-bodied styles, usually blonde and blue-eyed.

I'm not actually convinced that all of these faces are the same sculpt; some of them have wider-set eyes than others. But they are at least related, and until I have further knowledge, I'm categorizing them all under #117/18, which is the sculpt number of the Grace doll above.

1979 UNNAMED DOLL AND 1989 CHRISTINA DOLL

Vintage Walker

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Vintage Walker

This vintage sculpt may have first been used for some of the early Gotz walking / talking dolls going back to the 1970s so I will refer to it by the name of Vintage Walker. It has some similarities to the Starshine mold, although the head seems to be larger and rounder, with a wider mouth and less of a pout. It may have preceded the Starshine mold.

VINTAGE GOTZ WALKING TALKING DOLL, 1970s

It was chosen as the special "Lady Sarah" commemorative doll for the wedding of Lady Sarah Ferguson and Prince Andrew in 1986, and offered in both the wedding and engagement versions.

LADY SARAH FERGUSON DOLL, 1986

ANOTHER EARLY WALKER

The official name or mold number of this sculpt in unknown. The back of the neck usually reads "Gotz Puppe" and it has been signed Franz Gotz. It is most often found in non articulated, soft-bodied dolls of around 20" - 22". The sculpt is long retired but can be commonly found on the secondary market.

VINTAGE DOLL SYBIL AND "TWIN" DOLL SIGNED BY FRANZ GOTZ

216/16

Sculpt 216/16 also has a long history as a vintage Gotz doll that has been used more recently by Pottery Barn Kids dolls. This sculpt has been used for blue-eyed brunette vintage "Debbie" and a number of others whose names are now forgotten. More recently the face was used as Indian "Prita," one of PBK's limited edition "Girls of the World" dolls.

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#216/16

Another incarnation of #216/16 and a similar vintage sculpt alongside it. The vintage sculpt (which had inset or painted eyes) on the right, and the blonde "Barbara" sculpt below, are possibly related #216/16. The sculpt has been attributed to Marianne Gotz.

BRUNETTE #216/15 (left) AND SIMILAR VINTAGE SCULPT (right)

VINTAGE GOTZ DOLL BARBARA

130/16

Mold #130/16 has characteristics of both the 128 and 129 series. The face is wide and the mouth pouty, the eyes small and wide-set. It has a more solemn look than #128 and #129. Its name is unknown to me.

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#130/16

129/14

Mold #129/14 has some of the same features as those with the #128 prefix, though several clear differences too. The face is thinner, the smaller eyes more widely set. The mouth smiles more playfully. I don't know the name of the sculpt or the dolls who used it; it was possibly used less than the #128 series. I have seen fewer examples of it.

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#129/14

#129/14 FROM THE 1990 GOTZ CATALOG

128/14

#128/14 is yet another in the #128 series that highly resembles the others. It was used for an alternate version of Precious Day Alicia, as well as for other dolls, such as the bespectacled girl below. I'm not aware of its name.

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#128/14

The differences between this sculpt and #16 are more apparent than those between this sculpt and #15. The head is slightly broader as is the nose and mouth; the eyes may be closer-set, the jaw more defined. But the overall similarity to both #128/16 and #128/15 is still very significant.

Pottery Barn Kids' AA Maya, Zoey, and Zola from Kenya may use a version of this sculpt or one of the others in the #128 series. However, PBK uses their own logo as a neck stamp rather than the Gotz mold number, so it's difficult to say whether these dolls are #128/14, #128/15, or #128/16 (or something else!)

POTTERY BARN KIDS MAYA (LEFT) AND ZOLA (RIGHT) WITH PRECIOUS DAY ALICIA #128/14 (CENTER)

My best guess is that Pottery Barn Kids dolls use a slightly different sculpt than any of the previous dolls, as the eyes on both Maya and Zola look slightly wider to me. It may also have been one of the molds used by Vision Forum's Beautiful Girlhood doll Abigail.

128/15

Very similar to #128/16 is mold #128/15. The only instance I have seen of this sculpt is for AA vintage doll Collette (below left) although an identically dressed doll named Ginger (below right) had the #128/16 face. The two sculpts might have been interchanged between them, is my best guess. I'm not aware if it has a formal name.

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#128/15 and #128/16

The differences between this sculpt and #128/16 may be minor, though detectable by those with a good eye for it. Namely, in the #16 version, the lips seem to pout and protrude ever-so-slightly more. The chin may recede more noticeably.

#128/15 COLETTE AND A SIMILARLY DRESSED DOLL WITH THE SIMILAR #128/16 SCULPT

Pamela

Another often-used Gotz face is sculpt is #128/16.

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#128/16

I'm not aware if this charming little face actually has a name, but like her Gotz peers, she has resurfaced a few times since her debut. The neck on this sculpt is marked "Gotz 90," which indicates the year it was created. Interestingly, in the 1990 Gotz catalog, this sculpt does appear on several dolls, one of whom was named "Pamela." Since this was possibly one of the first appearances of this sculpt, I will refer to it here as "Pamela."

#128/16 FROM THE 1990 GOTZ CATALOG

I've also seen this sculpt referred to as the face Pleasant Roland fell in love with when she went to Gotz. I'm not exactly sure what that means, especially in regards to the year 1990. But in either case, it was utilized well enough by Gotz as a series of crinoline-dressed brunettes, pig-tailed blondes, or freckled gingers whose individual names may be currently lost to time.

STRAWBERRY/RED AND BLONDE VERSION of #128/16

#128/16 AS A FRECKLED GINGER

ANOTHER VIEW OF #128/16

It was also used for several ethnic dolls, possibly including African American doll Maddison and other AA dolls. Vision Forum's "Beautiful Girlhood" doll line may have also used this mold for their AA doll Fidelia.

GOTZ MADDISON (left) and UNKNOWN AA DOLL MARKED #120/16

In 2002, Gotz also used the "Pamela" sculpt for Precious Day's Hispanic doll Alicia.

GOTZ PRECIOUS DAY ALICIA #128/16

#128/16 is particularly interesting to me because there are several Gotz sculpts with similar mold numbers that very closely resemble this face.

Mona Lisa

The very first sculpt used for Precious Day dolls was actually #305/16, the "Mona Lisa" sculpt.

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#305/16 | "MONA LISA"

This mold was only used between 2002-2004 for the Precious Day line, and then replaced with the Stolle and Starshine sculpt. #305/16 was also used for the Little Sister dolls, which preceded the Precious Day dolls by a year.

GOTZ LITTLE SISTERS

Some have suggested there is a very subtle difference between the Little Sisters and original Precious Day sculpts, in that Little Sisters eyes are larger or rounder. (This can be difficult to detect without a trained eye.)

PRECIOUS DAY JESSICA (RIGHT) and LITTLE SISTERS DOLL LILY (LEFT)

However, some of the Precious Day Mona Lisa dolls also have the rounder eyes, as seen in the image below.

BOTH "EYE" VERSIONS OF PRECIOUS DAY JESSICA

So it seems that two face molds were commonly interchanged between these dolls lines and both eyes shapes can be found in each set of dolls. Interestingly, some of the sculpts are sometimes numbered as #305 without the #16.

#305/16 can also be found on vintage Gotz dolls from the 1990s, possibly earlier; it has been abundantly reused by Gotz.

SOFT BODY MONA LISA DOLL

Stolle

The mold below is actually very similar to #120/15, and may be an updated version of it. It is mold #120/16, known as the Stolle mold because it was designed by artist Kirsten Stolle.

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#120/16 | "STOLLE"

The two molds vary only slightly, mainly in the size and shape of the eyes. Additionally, I have also heard 120/15 referred to as "Stolle," which makes me believe #120/15 and #120/16 are different versions of the same sculpt. The two sculpts may also occasionally interchange mold numbers, as in the doll below.

#120/16

Face Sculpts

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