baby in washtub. Need help with identifying.

[Jennifer Vogt]

Hello,

I have a baby in a washtub that was given to me by my great-grandmother.  It was her prized possession as a child.  Unfortunately, I was unable to obtain any information from her.  I love it but would like to know if anyone is familiar with this and if there are anymore that exists.  She is 3 inches long and appears to be made out of porcelain.  The washtub is about 1 1/2 wide.  The back has a marking of Japan and maybe a mushroom or something in that shape above the Japan marking. Also, she needs cleaned up and someone told me to use alcohol but I do not want to damage her. I have attached the pictures. Thank you in advance for any info or advice given. 

[vicki hufstetler]

It's an early Made in Japan jointed baby doll. The tub has told you where she is from. :) 

It's really not necessary to know exactly which maker made her, in order to obtain information. It's actually very difficult to determine one maker over another there, in Japan. So, most of us don't bother. 

I would guess her age to be somewhere in the 1920's - 30's. Early Japan items are marked Nippon. So, that helps us date her. As far as value etc.. Just do a basic goggle search, click images and or check for listings of similar or identical items to learn details. 

To clean, unfortunately, There is no magic answer. I use Windex, it cleans and sanitizes very well, for old and dirty items like this. However, you may want to be careful on her painted spots. Because Windex does sometimes take the old "Cold painted" paint off. But having her very dirty is not going to be desirable either. You could try dish soap and hot water on a dish rag, and go slowly. But still with that, the wetness can damage the strings she's held together with, and it could take paint off too. Sadly no perfect answer. That's why I prefer the Windex. I'v never tried alcohol, it may be safer? Try it on a Q-tip to test.