Friday, June 29, 2012

Queen Victoria's Dolls

I have already posted about the doll collection of Queen Victoria which is at the Museum of London and the book of Frances H. Low's which was all about these doll's along with many watercolor illustrations by Alan Wright.
I have now found an article written in 1892 in London's "The Strand Magazine" all about the dolls and it can be downloaded from Archive.org HERE.
Go ahead indulge in a free download! :-)
Young Queen Victoria

Illustration by Alan Wright

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Johnny Gruelle


Love, love Johnny Gruelle's illustration work--see below and of course Raggedy Ann.
I remember this colorform Raggedy Ann set. Colorforms were great! :-)
I found a blog dedicated to Children's Illustrators HERE. It isn't active anymore--too bad.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Queen Victoria's Dolls

This is a page from the book "Queen Victoria's Dolls"
by Frances Low, published in 1894.
HERE is a link to see more watercolors of Queen Victoria's dolls.
They were 132 of the dolls that she dressed and named.
They appear to be penny woodens from the Groden valley in what is now Italy.
I think the collection of dolls is on display at the Museum of London.
I wish this book by Low would be re-released.
Wouldn't that be a delight? :-)

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Dutch Doll Book

I just found a book online called "Wilhelmina: The Adventures of a Dutch Doll"
 by Nora Pitt-Taylor, published in 1909. 
Find it HERE!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Queen Anne & Box Lots

This Queen Anne was lovely to see at a auction preview recently.
I was surprised to find it was so tall. It stood maybe 18-20 inches tall, possibly taller. 
The box lots...... 
Norah Wellings Sailor Boy? I think so at least.
I don't know the dolly next to him but she sure has a sweet expression.

New/Old Book

I added this book to my collection after seeing it at a recent doll auction. The book was part of a box lot. I looked it over and it seemed interesting--tho the auction copy was completely destroyed--water-soaked which had washed off the lower half of the books print. Buyer beware! I got on Amazon and ordered a used copy and it just arrived today. It is written kind of conversationally and also references real people like we should all know them--individual doll collectors of the time (1940). Reads like a society page sometimes. It does have some American copyright applications for some dolls, which is interesting. I would love to see books with a lot more research on a specific kind of doll--especially wood dolls. I am tired of seeing stuff on the fancy European dolls.

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Red Dress and Red Shoes

Looks like a composition doll to me. I love the red shoes and red floral print.