Maida Today

A Fine Early Voit Doll Gets a Careful Cleaning

2013-05-01T14:16:00.001-07:00

When Dixie and I were together in New Hampshire a time back I purchased a very large early doll by Andreas Voit dating about 1840. The doll has had very little modification that I can see other than probable leather arms added. We will not know what other outer clothing she may have had, as her dress is generic. It may or may not have always been with her. Far be it from me to take it away. Her finish is worn but not touched up and she retains her tiny eye lashes. Her bright glass eyes shine in imitation of life and mischief.

Patiently but with an earnest and pleading expression, the doll has been waiting a long while for me to provide hands and freshen her clothing. I began by softly dusting her red dress which I bought from the Velma Driscoll collection. A nice puff of poly stuffing is a good duster for doll clothing. Not so for her head and shoulders, as her gesso finish over the papier mache is lifting and has deep craze lines. This would be easily flicked off by careless handling. It is my responsibility to protect the doll from significant changes in temperature and humidity in the future.

She came to me with one leather arm hanging by a thread and the other torn and laying in her lap. I have a strong doubt that the kid arms are original to the doll body. The upper arm fabric looks right, but the way the leather was fastened below was surely a late make shift with modern glue and coarse stitches.. She may have started her existence with these or other leather arms, but my feeling after handling many early cloth bodies on old Voit dolls is that she is just as likely to have had cloth hands with separately stitched long fingers, all made with small neat hand stitching like the bodies themselves. I have a Voit boy, Heine, who has such fingers.

One solution would be to cover each arm completely in tan or ecru netting. This can still be done by someone else in the future as I took away not a bit of the cloth upper arms, and will sew the torn leather ones in a little cloth bag within her full petticoat. This is in accordance with the guide line to avoid making any change that is not reversible. I abide pretty well by that most of the time if the doll is of merit and has much of her originality like this one.

Having no net that is right, I chose for now to add worn old cloth hands and span the missing arm length with tan linen. I expect to add sheer long white under sleeves.

As I undressed the doll, I was sad to discover how soiled her underclothing was. She has had a mouse for a close friend once upon a time, as in the waist area where thick folds of clothing held and hid it, I found many wee short hairs of a mouse as well as other animal hair, along with stains from the mouse. This was unpleasant so I shook out the undergarments and placed them to soak in detergent, while I brushed the doll’s body out in the yard with an art brush to banish more of the animal hair and evidence of insects in the past. Then I changed MY dress!

Washing the undergarments gave me an opportunity to examine them and admire the tiny stitches which I can barely see with my glasses on. Petticoat, pantalets and chemise are the expected items. The pantalets are ankle length, as would be the petticoat if it had not had a later tuck to raise it more than two inches. Interesting. The petticoat exactly fits the dolls’ waist and seems surely to have been made just for her. Pantalets not so much, and the chemise could have belonged to a human infant. Beautiful perfectly fitted hand knit socks cover her stitched toes and I feel were made just for the doll. Her shoes are a later concoction but are part of her story. I have left them now but I do have better which she might like to change into.

Her early dress is a frail cob web, which once was pink. It is a mid nineteenth century child’s dress which is proper on the doll but is disintegrating. I have kept it on her anyway, as it is part of her story also. Redressing the doll felt like dressing a small child. Over the fragile one she came with, I added a marvelous (and ridiculously costly!) rust red calico dress. I think I will call her Mollie, after my Great grandmother. Now she sits in her chair again, cared for as she should be.

a Bib or Apron for a Toddler

2013-04-09T18:02:00.002-07:00

Here is a link to my blog that shows how to make this simple apron. Enjoy!

http://www.edythoneill.blogspot.com/

Collecting Antique Dolls in the 1950’s

2013-03-27T05:52:00.000-07:00

Things have really changed! I was a young woman living in West Texas on a ranch in Comanche county then. Living nine miles from pavement I was relatively isolated. My parents lived in the large city of Dallas 120 miles away, and I would load my two little girls in the car and make that drive on slower old roads over the hills and through the woods to grandmother’s house every few months. What an interesting grandmother she was for them! My mother loved old toys and old dolls and miniature rooms and doll houses which she made with assistance from my father. A trip home for a visit always included involvement in her latest project. Once I returned to the ranch with a fine old Teddy bear to mend, a find from the Goodwill store where mama loved to dig and search. On another of these trips Mama offered me a doll she had found, needing a wig and restringing and clothing. By taking her home, I was hooked!

To buy doll elastic I sent for a Mark Farmer’s catalog as advertised in Hobbies magazine. Soon I was reading the doll pages of Hobbies mag each month and sending the required SASE for mimeographed listings of dolls and parts for sale. Buying from these lists sight unseen with very few of the items pictured was almost a shot in the dark. In order to describe the item offered, the seller would cite page and book for illustrations from the few doll books available. Claire Fawcett’s Guide was a popular reference. Collectors gave names to different china heads such as Mrs Bumblebottom or Mary Lincoln or other titles from these early books. In this way you could know about what you were ordering if you sent for a doll with a head called Dagmar. Some of these names persist until today. Very early on, I desired most an Izannah Walker doll as pictured in Mrs. Johl’s books and an American Greiner doll which I did not own until the 1970’s.

I had almost no money at all for dolls. I could manage a bit from the grocery money to buy a china doll head for $2.35 or such. But I was excited over my new hobby and set out to see what could be discovered locally. The town of Comanche about 15 miles from me, had as all small towns did, a junk shop or two. In these I asked after china dolls. One shop keeper said he had seen a doll head at the iron man’s place. It was common in a small town for someone to put old pieces of iron in their front yard hoping to sell or swap them. These pieces of old farm equipment or hoes without handles and other iron pieces were often found as the iron man would check the city dump grounds on a more or less regular basis. When I found the iron man he told me yes he had had a little chine doll head from the dump grounds and sold it to Mrs. Dofloppy down the street for 50 cents. The iron man’s grandchild had been playing with the little head in a coffee can in the dirt of the yard. Coffee cans of that time were wide and squat.

I knocked on the door there and was admitted to the living room to visit this woman, and I soon spied the little doll head sitting on top of a bud vase on a shelf. This perch on top of the flared vase gave a “body” to the little head, which was without it’s shoulders. I was able to purchase the doll head for 75 cents. I clasped my first real antique doll find and was thrilled with her! She was a little common blond head, needing everything. Hands and feet were ordered from Mark Farmer, and I made the doll a body and a dress, and named her Resurrection! I was not to have her long. My mama came from Dallas on a visit and grabbed Resurrection and announced that She must have the doll. My protests counted for nothing. Mama was building a salt box doll house and intended to show it in the State fair that October and 6 inch tall Resurrection was the very doll she needed. So in less than a year, Resurrection went from the Comanche city dump to the state fair of Texas in my mama’s winning blue ribbon exhibit. Believe!

Our family has not kept many of mama’s miniature rooms, and that was not the only blue ribbon she won. But we do have Resurrection in that doll house still. My mama’s little great great grandchildren ooh and ahh at it through a pane of plexiglass.

And the hobby that began for me in my 20’s has kept a firm grip until this time in my 80’s.

Helen tried to write this as a comment but that did not work so here is the sequel she sent me this afternoon!

"I own a "cousin" to Resurrection, the little blonde china of this story. In the 1960s, my sister's family lived in Comanche, and on a visit to a junk shop there locally called M & S (though the faded sign said Mc's), I found a small brown metal object which proved to be a rusted tin doll head, a German Minerva for a 12" doll. I bought it for a few dollars (inflation had come to the doll market there), took it home with me to Fort Worth to a doll repair shop for repainting, ordered china arms and legs and a body pattern from my Mark Farmer catalog, made a body from a pale pink linen guest towel, and muslin pantalettes, petticoat and a dimity dress. The "professional" paint job proved to be amateurish and unsatisfactory, and since I didn't yet know Edyth O'Neill, I couldn't take it to her to fix. So I repainted it myself, not good, but better, and at least my own mess. My dear sister is gone now, but I still have that doll, packed away in storage waiting to see the light of day again. Edyth perfectly named her reclaimed treasure, but mine is still Nameless. Helen Pringle"

Doll Sized Basket Tutorial by Michele Made Me

2013-03-09T12:40:00.001-08:00

Dixie here. I would love to borrow Michele's brain for a day. She is such an inventive person! And what is lovely is that she uses recycled materials to make many of her crafts. So hop on over to Michele's blog to see how she made these wonderful little baskets and what she made them from. Michele is the modern incarnation of author of The Girl's Own Toymaker. Enjoy!

Ginger's Philadelphia Sheppard Baby Dolls

2013-03-02T05:08:00.003-08:00

Ginger kindly shared images of the two Philadelphia Sheppard babies she owns named Clay and Ray pictures in this post. I told her I'm in the process of studying Philadelphia Sheppard Baby Dolls because I am making a pattern inspired by the one I own. She kindly shared these images to share with others who love Philadelphia - Sheppard Baby Dolls. My Philly Baby doll is in rough shape, so I have been studying other images lately.

This is such an interesting opportunity to study two dolls by the same maker side by side. You can see similarities and differences at the same time. Ginger has taken pictures in such a way that it makes it easier for us.

Thank you, Ginger!

The Maida Dolls Group

2013-02-14T04:40:00.000-08:00

This blog has a spin-off group called Maida Dolls Group, which has an excellent group of doll makers and collectors. There are a number of fascinating conversations happening in the group right now, and some awesome reproduction Columbian Dolls being shared. Patterns used are by Connie Tognoli, Gail Wilson and Susan Fosnot.

Find more photos like this on MAIDA Dolls Group

An Izannah Walker Inspired Doll from the 1980's

2013-02-10T05:38:00.001-08:00

I was searching through antique doll items on Ebay and happened across this antique inspired doll made in 1983 by NIADA artist E. SZUKI.

Doll makers of that time making antique inspired and Izannah Walker inspired dolls were Helen Pringle, Edyth O'Neill, Judi Tasch, and Kay Cloud. We who make antique inspired folk dolls are part of a large parade of creatives.

I asked permission to share this doll here for those of you who enjoy Izannah Walker reproduction dolls. You can see visit the auction here for more pictures.

Wonderful Kathe Kruse Dolls

2013-02-04T03:15:00.000-08:00

Signature Dolls shared images of these marvelous Kathe Kruse dolls in a group we are both in, and has graciously allowed me to share them here with Maida readers. The dolls shared here are only 14" tall.

I love the story behind Kathe Kruse dolls - that the first doll Kathe made was an answer to her child Maria's wish to have a baby to cuddle. Maria's father looked for a doll like the child wanted but only found cold porcelain dolls. So mama Kathe improvised, as mothers do:

"....the doll should be warm, soft and also a little bit heavy to carry. She took a soft towel, filled it with sand and finally took a potato as a head. The first doll was born! Mimerle instantly fell in love with it, played with it and carried it around all day long. But after a few days the knots got loose, the sand came out and the potato developed a very unpleasing smell..."

via the Kathe Kruse website

This makes me grin. Some of my early dolls have that improvised feel, minus the potato head. You can read the story here. Enjoy the images.

A far cry from a sand filled towel with a potato head.

What marvelous but simple construction!

I like to end with images of the dolls fully clothed.

Such beautiful honest creations!

Thank you to Signature Dolls for sharing them!

A Sheppard or Philadelphia Baby Doll

2013-02-01T05:03:00.000-08:00

I've started making a Philadelphia Sheppard Baby Doll Pattern. You can follow the progress on my personal blog at Northdixie Designs.

These dolls, like some Alabama Baby Dolls, fall in the "so ugly they are cute" category for me. There is a sweetness and a homeliness about them. The light shines through a window, revealing the beauty of a worn antique doll of days gone by. This Philadelphia (Sheppard) Baby is enjoying a moment in the sun.

Happy 2013

2013-01-01T05:56:00.000-08:00

via The Graphics Fairy

Edyth's Feather Trees with Dolls & Bears

2012-12-20T03:37:00.003-08:00

Visit Edyth's blog to see some lovely Christmas feather trees with sweet dolls and bears. I spy with my little eye a special doll on the table. Take some time to visit Edyth's selling blog, as well. She has some lovely large dolls there, such as this papier mache doll below, with long curls.

An 1851 Account of Where a Doll's Dress Came From

2012-11-29T03:59:00.003-08:00

I've been spending time at Google Books searching 19th century books, doing "primary research". It's interesting to see the illustrations of the time, because they give information about what people actually wore, rather than the idealized and/or simplified versions in our head. This book, called May's Doll: Where Its Dress Came From describes the sources for all the elements that went into May's dress. So for those of you who collect dolls, it's intersting reading about the various countries involved in making May's dress. Click the image below to see the original book at Google Books.

A Sweet Columbian Doll

2012-11-23T03:45:00.002-08:00

When I shared that the Maida Dolls Group is having a Columbian Doll challenge, Lorrie Dove kindly shared pictures of her Columbian Doll to post here on Maida Today. Lorrie's Doll has had no repainting that she knows of.

If you haven't already checked out some of the wonderful Columbian inspired dolls being made by Maida Dolls Group members, then click here to see MAIDA Dolls Group Columbians. If you're not a member you will need to join, but there is no cost to joining.

Using 19th Century Magazines for Design Inspiration

2012-10-28T11:04:00.000-07:00

Google Books yields lots of inspiration sources from 19th century primary documents. Primary documents, such as the Les Follets illustrations in this post, show what people actually wore, rather than a what we think they wore. I'm particularly interested in 19th century children's clothing, so I love searching various topics and finding wonderful graphics. Look at this outfit for a child in 1863:

A simple white dress

adorned with red trim

makes a stylish statement:

The same color scheme is used in reverse

a velvet red dress trimmed with white cording

layered over a simple white undershirt or blouse.

Thank you to Google Books for preserving these books and documents so that they are readily available for our research.

Queen Anne Doll to Be Auctioned at Withington's October 2012 Auction

2012-10-05T11:50:00.001-07:00

Withington's, as always, has some lovely dolls to be auctioned on October 18th, 2012. This wooden doll is from about 1750 and is lovely. She was once featured in The Art of Dolls.

And hands!

Tiny Moravian Dolls

2012-09-24T12:26:00.000-07:00

When most people mention antique Moravian Dolls, we are accustomed to thinking of Polly Heckwelder dolls, such as this one sold at Morphy's Auctions.

On my last visit to Lucy's Doll House, I saw this collection of little dolls, also made by the Moravians. These tiny dolls are about 4.5 to 5 inches tall and were "named Benigna, after the founder of the first Protestant boarding school for girls in America" (Cloth Dolls From Ancient to Modern, p. 27). In this case, some of the dolls come with a little pocket which holds a card describing the doll and the project they were being sold to help with.

It's little details like this that add not only charm

but provenance to a creation like this.

Thank you to Lucy's Doll House

for the opportunity to share these charming dolls.

Columbian Doll at Lucy's Doll House

2012-09-09T12:10:00.001-07:00

This is a smaller Columbian Doll. I forgot to measure her! But she has a different body construction than the larger dolls I've seen. The back, shown below with Emma Adams stamp, is made of two parts.

The front either is made of 3 pieces or is 1 piece with two darts.

The chunky legs of Columbian dolls are charming,

and are reminiscent of toddlers.

Enjoy the rest of the pictures of this sweet doll.

Topsy Turvy Dolls

2012-09-01T06:32:00.000-07:00

Some members of the Maida Dolls Group have been working on Topsy Turvy Dolls. This was prompted by the invitation hosted by Art Dolls Quarterly. Visit the Maida Dolls group to see what they're up to, and be inspired by the images of this lovely antique doll I saw at the 2010 Withington's doll auction. ~ Dixie

MAIDA Dolls Group Featured in Autumn 2012 Prims Magazine

2012-08-15T06:53:00.001-07:00

The Maida Dolls Group's Storybook Character Challenge was featured in the Autumn 2012 of Prims Magazine. There are some great dolls featured individually, so be sure to order your copy at the link below:

Autumn 2012 Issue of Prims Magazine

Tasha Tudor Dolls?

2012-08-14T15:50:00.000-07:00

If you like all things Tasha Tudor, you will want to visit Edyth's blog to see the lovely handmade dolls thought to be made by Tasha Tudor herself.

Incredible Vintage Wooden 1950's Hitty Doll with Accessories and Tasha Tudor Letters

2012-06-06T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to Lucy's Doll House for my "spring trip". I usually try to get down once a season, but my spring trip is my favorite because I get to see what's new in the shop. Sue said she had a special doll to share, and boy did she! Yesterday, when I walked into the back room to see this amazing vintage wooden carved Hitty doll from 1954, my jaw dropped.

Those of you who love the original Hitty will love this grouping of items and the story of how this doll and her accessories came to be made. The lot is filled with so many points of interest, from the doll itself, to the wardrobe, to a hooked rug, the furniture to the scrapbook and letters from Tasha Tudor included in the scrapbook. Her necklace of pearls and coral was made by Shreve's in Boston. I was a little overwhelmed at how to document the group, to be truthful. I want to go back and visit it again, if it's still there.

The scrapbook that came with the doll tells the story of the doll's making as well as the wardrobe and furniture that are with her.

Heather, the little girl for whom the doll was made, had read her mama's Hitty book, and longed for a Hitty of her own. Her parents had a local eagle carver named William "Bill" Montville make Heather a Hitty doll. Here are rough videos I took showing the doll and collection of clothing and furniture. I have a lot to learn about using my iPad for videos! But still, you will enjoy seeing this doll move.

The clothing with this doll is astounding - all made by Alice Wainwright, the maker of Polly Shorrock dolls. Lucy's has a group of Polly Shorreck dolls that were also owned by the little girl Heather.

The clothing was made from the descriptions in the book.

Here is the skirt to Hitty's wedding dress.

What a wedding dress Alice Wainwright made for Hitty!

Below is the typed history of how the furniture was made by Heather's father in his basement workshop, and what each piece was made from.

Here's a video showing the accessories in this grouping. The video makes it looks like Hitty's head is moving. It is not. My camera skills are sadly lacking, and the poor iPad was trying to refocus constantly while I was moving it around. Sorry about that! But still, you get an idea of the collectionof the doll's accessories and the clothing.

In the video I state all the furniture is made from mahogony,

but that is incorrect. The cradle is made from mahogany.

Here are some additional pictures of accessories:

I believe these small letters may be "Sparrow letters"

written by Tasha Tudor from Tasha's dolls to Heather's dolls.

The scrapbook has some pictures of one of Tasha Tudor's dolls.

Small eagle carved by William Montville aka
"Bill" Montville of Marblehead, Massachusetts, who also carved the doll.

There is so much here to delight the viewer in this collection. This special group reflects the creation of a one of a kind group of treasures, a family's imagination and the joys of a simpler time.

Many thanks to Lucy's Doll House for allowing Maida Today

to share this wonderful group of treasures.

Primitive Antique Folk Art Cloth Doll on Ebay

2012-05-26T05:01:00.000-07:00

This doll was auctioned on Ebay - it was an interesting auction to watch. She sold for US $180.49. There are additional images at the auction. A folk art doll similar to this recently sold on Ebay for over $700. View pictures of a similar doll I own at a previous post on Maida Today. Mine is a bit more folky with arms that stick out from her sides. The arms in this doll below reminds me a bit of a Columbian doll. What do you think of her?

1001 Ways to Make a Doll: Inspired by Google Patent

2012-05-04T07:26:00.001-07:00

Google Patents is a fun place to hang out - particularly if you search from 1820 - 1920 when most designs would now be in the public domain. It's beautiful to see the breadth of creativity when you search for doll designs from 1820 - 1920. Doll artists will find instruction and inspiration at the click of a mouse.

Antique Izannah Walker Type Doll and Izannah Walker Doll

2012-03-31T09:30:00.001-07:00

If you don't know about the Izannah Walker Chronicles, you will want to visit to learn about Izannah Walker dolls. Today I posted about an "Izannah Walker Type" doll, which is interesting to look at. There is also an Izannah Walker Doll to be auctioned, so be sure to visit and check them out in more detail.

The Maida Dolls Group Rocks!

2012-03-30T06:06:00.001-07:00

Want to be a better doll maker?

Read this post and join the Maida Dolls Group.

I learn something every day in the Maida Dolls Group because the group members are the best at sharing! There are some wonderful creations being shared right now, so if you're not a member, you'll want to join.