This
is a sweet dolly-faced doll which was a pleasure to put (back) together.
She has single stroke eyebrows, and an open mouth, possibly originally
with red paper behind as a tongue, (I used a small piece of felt
at the back of the mouth in place of a tongue). She would almost
undoubtedly originally have had sleep-eyes.
In
order to 'rescue' her everything other than the ceramic head and
original painting is new; I believe I lightly painted over her original
eyelashes (which had faded to white) with black acrylic paint. I
added new stationary blue blown-glass eyes (supplied by Sheer
Elegance) and used a reproduction composition milette (7.5 inch)
body from a mould by Seeleys.
I made the wig using mohair skin, cut and sewn to fit the head.
The pate was made by recycling cardboard used to transport fruit.
The dress is of a pale blue china silk which is a perfect weight
for dolls, and does not have a slub texture. I used cotton lace
- not vintage but very pretty. The dress pattern is from the Gildebrief
magazine (1999 Volume 01) shown in blue on a small KR117; I
had to make the dress smaller and change the bonnet for a wired
cap. The shoes are made from blue gloving leather offcuts using
the Goody Twoshoes workbook
on doll shoes. The socks are hand knitted using the pattern from
a pattern leaflet Yesterdays Knitting Patterns for Antique and
Reproduction Dolls [Doll Designs by Patricia Evans and
Jane Woodbridge]
Other
references in The Art of
Dolls 1700-1940 Madeline Osborne Merrill
[Figure 663, Page 290]
and Heubach
Character Dolls and Figurines Lydia Richter and Karin
Schmelcher [Figure 237, Page130].
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