Children of Japan

Children of Japan
Courtesy, R. John Wright

Hinges and Hearts

Hinges and Hearts
An Exhibit of our Metal Dolls

Tuxedo and Bangles

Tuxedo and Bangles

A History of Metal Dolls

A History of Metal Dolls
Now on Alibris.com and In Print! The First Book of its Kind

Alice, Commemorative Edition

Alice, Commemorative Edition
Courtesy, R. John Wright

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Emma, aka, La Contessa Bathory

Emma, aka, La Contessa Bathory
Her Grace wishes us all a Merry Christmas!

Annabelle

Annabelle

Emma Emmeline

Emma Emmeline
Our New Addition/fond of stuffed toys

Cloth Clown

Cloth Clown

Native American Art

Native American Art

the triplets

the triplets

c. 1969 Greek Plastic Mini Baby

c. 1969 Greek Plastic Mini Baby
Bought Athens on the street

Iron Maiden; Middle Ages

Iron Maiden; Middle Ages

Sand Baby Swirls!

Sand Baby Swirls!
By Glenda Rolle, courtesy, the Artist

Glenda's Logo

Glenda's Logo
Also, a link to her site

Sand Baby Castaway

Sand Baby Castaway
By Glenda Rolle, Courtesy the Artist

A French Friend

A French Friend

Mickey

Mickey
From our friends at The Fennimore Museum

2000+ year old Roman Rag Doll

2000+ year old Roman Rag Doll
British Museum, Child's Tomb

Ancient Egypt Paddle Doll

Ancient Egypt Paddle Doll
Among first "Toys?"

ushabti

ushabti
Egyptian Tomb Doll 18th Dynasty

Ann Parker Doll of Anne Boleyn

Ann Parker Doll of Anne Boleyn

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Tin Head Brother and Sister, a Recent Purchase

Tin Head Brother and Sister, a Recent Purchase
Courtesy, Antique Daughter

Judge Peep

Judge Peep

Hakata Doll Artist at Work

Hakata Doll Artist at Work
From the Museum Collection

Japanese Costume Barbies

Japanese Costume Barbies
Samurai Ken

Etienne

Etienne
A Little Girl

Happy Heart Day

Happy Heart Day

From "Dolls"

From "Dolls"
A Favorite Doll Book

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Jenny Wren

Jenny Wren
Ultimate Doll Restorer

Our Friends at The Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum

Our Friends at The Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum

Baby Boo 1960s

Baby Boo 1960s
Reclaimed and Restored as a childhood Sabrina the Witch with Meow Meow

Dr. E's on Display with sign

Dr. E's on Display with sign

Dolls Restored ad New to the Museum

Dolls Restored ad New to the Museum
L to R: K*R /celluloid head, all bisque Artist Googly, 14 in. vinyl inuit sixties, early celluloid Skookum type.

Two More Rescued Dolls

Two More Rescued Dolls
Late Sixties Vinyl: L to R: Probably Horseman, all vinyl, jointed. New wig. R: Effanbee, probably Muffy, mid sixties. New wig and new clothing on both. About 12 inches high.

Restored Italian Baby Doll

Restored Italian Baby Doll
One of Dr. E's Rescued Residents

Dolls on Display

Dolls on Display
L to R: Nutcrackers, Danish Troll, HItty and her book, Patent Washable, Mechanical Minstrel, Creche figure, M. Alexander Swiss. Center is a German mechanical bear on the piano. Background is a bisque German costume doll.

A Few Friends

A Few Friends
These dolls are Old German and Nutcrackers from Dr. E's Museum. They are on loan to another local museum for the holidays.

Vintage Collage

Vintage Collage
Public Domain Art

The Merry Wanderer

The Merry Wanderer
Courtesy R. John Wright, The Hummel Collection

The Fennimore Doll Museum

The Fennimore Doll Museum

Robert

Robert
A Haunted Doll with a Story

Halloween Dolls Displayed in a Local Library

Halloween Dolls Displayed in a Local Library

The Cody Jumeau

The Cody Jumeau
Long-faced or Jumeau Triste

German Princesses

German Princesses
GAHC 2005

A Little PowerRanger

A Little PowerRanger
Halloween 2004

The Island of the Dolls

The Island of the Dolls
Shrine to Dolls in Mexico

Based on the Nutshell Series of Death

Based on the Nutshell Series of Death
Doll House murder

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A lovely dress

A lovely dress

Raggedy Ann

Raggedy Ann
A few friends in cloth!

Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum, WI

Fennimore Doll and Toy Museum, WI
Pixar Animator's Collection

Little PM sisters

Little PM sisters
Recent eBay finds

Dressed Mexican Fleas

Dressed Mexican Fleas

Really old Dolls!

Really old Dolls!

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

What Every Doll Collection Needs

Happy St. Patrick's Day, and thank you for my first comment and for the good wishes!  It is foggy here, but we have the promise of sun.  The Ancient Celts left us stone deities and tiny figures cast in iron and other metals that represent their gods and goddesses.  One of the most famous of these represents Epona, the horse goddess.  Ancient figures and doll were primarily religious figures or symbolic works of art.  Certainly the earliest representation of the human figure, the Austiran Venus of Willendorf figures first unearthed in 1908, were sacred objects representing The Goddess.  Yet, children eventually got their hands on discarded or broken images, and the first play dolls emerged.  Many of these existed in Egypt, where a 2000+ year old rag doll was discovered in a child's tomb.  Toys and games were often found buried with children in Ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome, and such things survived even from Asia, Africa, and later, the Americas.  But, I digress.  my topic today was to recommend to new and advanced collectors the dolls I think everyone should have.  I base my opinion on the works of early doll scholars, including Helen Young, Janet Pagter Johl, and Mary Hillier, who beleived variety made a good collection.  Perhaps I followed to closely in their foot steps, but here goes:

Everyone should have in his/her doll collection:

1. One porcelain doll, new or antique.  Porcelain dolls represent a revolution in the doll making industry.  Porcelain could be used to create realistic or fanciful creations, and the results were often breathtaking.  There are also links between famous and very old china companies and dolls that they created.

2.  At least one set of paper dolls.  Paper dolls as objects of amusement have existed since about the 18th century when early Pantins which were jointed and based often on Polichinelle [Punch} and Columbine first made an appearance in France.  Many homemade examples have found their way down to us, and chromolithography made it possible for all children to have inexpensive sets.  Ritual paper dolls existed long before then in ancient Japan, and in two-dimensional shadow puppets from near and far east.

3,  Some kind of mechanical doll, even a holiday-battery operated figure.

4.  A wax doll or doll with wax parts.  These are easy to make with candle molds, if a little messy.  Holiday figural candles will serve if one can't find a Pierroti, Charles Marsh, or Montari.

5. A China head or doll made of glazed porcelain.

6.  A German Doll.

7. A French doll.  ## 6 and 7 do not have to be bisque; both countries led the toy industry for many years and used many types of media.

8.  A papier mache doll or doll head.

9.  A composition doll or doll head.  ## 8 and 9 may be old or new.

10.  A Frozen Charlotte or penny doll. Try to get a copy of the ballad by Lorenzo Carter. It is all over The Net.

11.  A celebrity doll, your choice.

12.  A Shirley Temple doll or set of paper dolls, old or new.

13.  One Madame Alexander; Walmart and Toys R Us carry them now.

14.  One McDonald's Happy Meal Toy.

15.  One doll representing each of the seven continents.  A stuffed penguin represents Anarctica quite nicely.

16.  One Barbie doll and one Barbie spinoff.

17.  One Teddy Bear.

18.  One other stuffed animal; a Beanie will work.

19.  A wooden doll.

20.  A Creche doll or nativity figure.  You can knock yourself out at Christmas, or buy a Santo, look for a Santon, you name it.

22.  A Japanese Doll.

23.  A Russian nesting doll.

24.  A hand puppet or finger puppet.

25.  A marionette.

26.  A Cloth doll.

27.  Raggedy Ann and Andy

28.  One Cabbage Patch doll.

29. One sock monkey.

30.  A Cornhusk doll.

31.  Another folk doll, perhaps an apple head, baby bottle nipple doll, a Mrs. Butterworth bottle doll, a nut head.

32. A "parian" or unglazed bisque head.

33.  A Toy soldier, old or new.

34.  A metal head, or all metal doll; Minerva and Juno are still plentiful.

35.  A Rubber doll, any condition.

26.  A Betsey Wetsy

27. A "Mamma Doll" and a Metronome in honor of Maezel who invented both.

27.  An advertising doll like Mr. Peanut, or Little Debbie.

28.  A Hard Plastic doll.

29.  A 7" "dress me" doll

30.  A kewpie doll

31. A boy doll

32. A set of doll house dolls, any type or material.  Clothes pins make very good ones.

33.  An American Girl

34.  A Chatty Cathy

34.  A hand-held walking doll

35.  A Patti Play Pal companion doll or something similar

36.  A Celluloid doll

27.  A gingerbread man, shellacked

29.  One doll or ornament representing major holiday figures, e.g., Christmas, Halloween, Easter, Fourth of July, Thanksgiving, St. Patrick's Day

30.  One antique doll, any type, size, or material, at least seventy five years old

31. A live-sized mannikin, if you have room.  If you don't, look for a 1940s Peggy McCall, Marx Campus Cuties, a child or baby mannikin, or a wooden artists lay figure, about 11 1/2 inches.  Dress forms in miniature are also very popular and will serve the purpose.

32.  Two or three story book dolls, Nancy Ann, Hollywood, Molleye, Dress-Me, Mattell, Effanbee, Horsman; it doesn't matter.

33.  G.I. Joe

34.  A robot or transformer

35.  A space man or Star Wars, Alien, McFarlane, Close encounter action figure.

36.  A native American doll

37.  A Black Doll

38.  An African doll or mask

39.  A Hispanic doll

40.  Ginny, any type or era

41.  An ancient doll; replica Ushabti abound, as do images of the Goddess or Venus figures, replicas in marble of ancient Greek statues or dolls, Egyptian figure replicas from Design Toscano, etc.

42.  Some type of representation of the 18th Century; if you can' have a real Queen Anne doll, there are replicas, especially in Colonial Williamsburg.

43.  A Webkins or Tomogatchi.

44.  A Manga figure.

45.  Doll dishes.

46.  A very samll doll house or shadow box.

46.  Doll clothes and a trunk to go with them.  Barbie cases and clothes work well.

47.  One vinyl doll from the fifties, sixties, seventies, and eighties.

Now you have between 44 and 60 dolls, depending on how many variations you want to include.  Many can be paper or very tiny representations.  In my opinion, this grouping represents a varied, and well-rounded collection which will provice enjoyment and will chronicle the history of dolls.

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