The concept of a “first” love doll is shrouded in myth and legend, as such creations were, by their nature, intensely private. However, the most compelling and historically significant ancestor of today’s companions is arguably the doll commissioned by the Austrian artist Oskar Kokoschka around 1918.
Following a tumultuous and painful breakup with his muse, Alma Mahler, Kokoschka was consumed by grief. In an attempt to reclaim her presence, he sent detailed instructions to a doll maker in Munich to create a life-sized effigy of her. He specified the texture of the skin and hair, demanding a tactile realism that was unheard of at the time. When the doll arrived, his relationship with it was complex and public. He treated it not just as a sexual object, but as a silent partner. He took it to the opera, bought it clothes, and featured it in his paintings. It was a vessel for his unresolved passion, his anger, and his sorrow. Eventually, after a party, he destroyed it. This story is crucial because it represents the first well-documented case of a doll being used as a surrogate for a specific person, embodying a complex mix of love, desire, and emotional turmoil—the very same motivations that drive many to seek out companions today.