All Good Things Must End

Saturday the 29th, is my last morning at the museum, and on Sunday afternoon I’ll be taking down my display. From there the remaining Jesters will go to the Tea Shop.

It’s been a great experience for me. I’ve met a lot of very nice people and answered lots of questions. Picked up a commission, sold Jesters, am helping out a with a project, in the fall, for a Brownie Troupe, helped others with projects they are working on, people brought in dolls to show me and the list goes on.

I even had a call from a gentleman who saw the article in the local paper and offered to give me a china doll bust that he found amongst his wife’s things. I went to meet him and this is what he gave me. The bust measures approx. 3 1/2” – 4“ tall.

I had Ginni research it for me, and she provided me with pictures of what the doll of that era would have been dressed in. The china doll bust herself is an Armand Marseille, dating back to approx. 1900-1920. The clothing would be estimated to be for a young girl of 6-8 years old from 1900-1910. I made a promise to myself to make a complete doll and dressed to what Ginni has researched for me. The gentleman doesn’t want this back, but I would like to make this, name her Iris after his wife, and at the very least, take the doll to show him that I did make good use of his gift. ;o)

This is an example of how she might be dressed, a 15" Armand Marseille doll from 1894.

It’s kind of bitter sweet to have this exhibit coming to an end. While I’ve enjoyed being there and meeting so many nice people coming through, helping the kids to get involved in the scavenger hunt, and designing a doll, getting to know those dedicated people who keep the museum humming along, I’m also ready to get down to business and get the Christmas orders and other dolls done.

Before this is over, I have a few more pictures to show you. These dolls were changed out every couple of weeks, in the case near the front desk.

Below the pictures is a link to a video you will enjoy for sure, if you are a doll lover.

And here is the link to a wonderful video that the Doll Curator, Ginni and her hubby Ron made of the exhibit from last year. It’s so well done. Ginni’s narration is really good, and clearly explains some of the history of the dolls in the exhibit and others.

The quality of the video itself and how it flows along with the narration just makes you want it to go on and on, at least that’s how it made me feel. So enjoy, if you feel inclined to leave a comment, I know they would love that. ;o)

Barbie and Asian Themes

Hi everyone. Here are the last of the displays. There will still be the front case that changes on a weekly basis. I will keep taking pictures of those dolls and share them later on. The most recent one is adorable. She is a Snow White porcelain doll from 1937.

Thank you for the emails and blog comments. Seems that the display is causing some of you to reflect back to your little girl days, even to the point that one of you took your doll apart to see how it works… Big oops…..lol But as little girls, we wanted to see how things happen. I still have a Bugs Bunny from that time, and even when I pull the cord, it does talk, although not so well as he once did… But he’s still a cool bunny..

There are signs for each of the displays below, so I’ll just leave those to explain the dolls to you. 

Here comes  Barbie..

And now the Asian themed doll collections.

These are my favourite of all the displays. These charming little dolls are only about 6” tall. The costuming is so detailed and yet they appear so simple. They just speak to me., not exactly sure why, I just find myself going to see them each time I’m at the museum.. ;o) They just seem so real I guess, like a community of little people perhaps.

Then there is this collection. These are amazing in another way and my 2nd favourite of the exhibit.. Again the details are so beautiful.

And that’s it. Except for those cases at the front that will change weekly and I’ll send those pictures as the dolls arrive. This week its Snow White, not sure what’s coming next, so stay tuned.

Mash Up 2

I hope you’re enjoying these. First up in this post, Composition Dolls. I am learning about dolls from the past during this exhibit. I knew nothing of these ones. The explanation as per Google.

“A composition doll is a doll made partially or wholly out of composition, a composite material composed of sawdust, glue, and other materials such as cornstarch, resin and wood flour. The first composition dolls were made in the 19th century. They were marketed as unbreakable, compared to earlier more fragile dolls.”

Fashion Dolls

I hope you can appreciate these ones as I’ve photographed them. There are lights all around, so some pictures have to be taken from the side to avoid most of the glare. These dolls are so detailed…

This little case is near the front door, and each week or two, they are featuring a different doll. As they change I’ll take pictures to show you.

Amateur to Pro

Around the World

These are the last for today. I will have one more post to cover two specific themes in the next post and that’s all. But what a lot to see. A number of ladies have told me how much the exhibit has taken them back in time seeing dolls that they had themselves. There have been a lot of grandmothers coming in with their grandchildren, (yes - boys and girls ) and that’s a good thing. They seemed to be enjoying themselves. ;o))

Mash-Up 1

There are a few display cases for the exhibit that have a few dolls from different categories. I thought I would just show you a mash-up in a couple of posts.

Let’s start with these walking dolls. They are approx. 3’ tall. I remember these, so I guess that’s aging me. ;o~

Next we have a collection of American Girls. They were apparently so popular at last years exhibit, so here are just a few to enjoy.

Here we have more life size dolls. These really are the size of little girls. So cute.

And how about some ladies visiting and chatting about their dolls.

How about a look into a Boutique window.

Today, I’ll finish up with some stars of the Silver Screen.

In another day or two,  I’ll post the doll order I’m working on. I’m around the corner with it, on the home stretch now. See you soon, ;o)

First Nations and Inuit Dolls

These dolls are from a few different collectors and doll makers. First these two amazing porcelain dolls, followed by a description of how they came to be. They are a compilation of several artisans working in harmony to create these First Nations pieces. They stand approximately 3 feet tall. Not exactly sure, they are in raised up cases. Gorgeous.

Another collection of First Nations dolls.

These are Inuit dolls. I heard the curator explaining about a Tea Doll. When the Inuit would move to other areas, everyone had to carry something, so they would fill dolls with the tea reserves for the children to carry. Everyone played a part. Click here to read a little more about these fascinating little dolls. The two dolls on the right side of the first picture are listed as tea dolls.

And this is another case of Inuit dolls. That’s it for today. I had a chance to get better pictures of the nesting doll display case today, so I have replaced the pictures of those in my last post. If you want to see the case properly photographed, click here and scroll down the page. See you in a few days with more pictures.

Felted and Russian Dolls

I’ll start off by saying that I try to avoid glare, but it happens. You will be able to see the dolls pretty well though.

Here I’m showing you these wonderful felted dolls. There are two exhibitors of felted dolls. The first two pictures are the felted dolls made by a local artisan, Patti Wilson. I love the characters she’s needle felted. Hilarious. It’s good that there are artists of all kinds in the world to keep things so interesting.

These felted dolls are made Rene who is in my group that gets together once a month, mostly rug hookers. Rene is self taught and she clearly has found her medium and subject matter. She brought the baby to the last get together, and even his diaper is felted. Just so cute… Rene is like me, her dolls are like the little people in her life and she spends hours working on them to make sure they are happy. ;o)

This next couple of pictures are of a collection of Russian dolls. Some are those beautiful nesting dolls, others are stand alone individual dolls in their traditional style of dress.  The pictures are much the same, but in one the higher up dolls are easier to see, and in the other, the nesting dolls are.

I will take more pictures on Saturday.