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

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.

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? :-)

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!

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.

Red Dress and Red Shoes

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

Doll Auction

 Look at these beautiful dolls from an auction I went to last week. I didn't register--I've never bid on anything at aution before. I stayed for awhile to see how it was done and couldn't believe first off how much some dolls were auctioned for and then how the box lots were sometimes reasonable.

Wooden headed--Swiss? 

Wooden shoes so tiny! 

A pouty Lenci!!

So much like a real girl. 

A very detailed peddlar doll. 

Ohhhh!

Angusine MacGregor illustration.

I like the golliwog tucked up in bed, the little girl's delicious red hairbow,

 and the Japanese doll on the far left.

Rainy Day Dollhouse

I was vacationing at a cottage last week and this book was on the bookshelf.

It has wonderful directions for a cardboard dollhouse and furniture.

I have always loved these kind of books.

Do you think we should make it??

Book Illio

Illustration of dolls in a Russian book.

I like the woven shoes shown on the doll on the right, front.

Blonde or Brunette?

A bevy of dollies illustrated by Maud Trube.

Doll Book

I love the illustrations from old books.

They are so sweetly innocent.

The hairstyle on the little blonde girl we used to call "Alice in Wonderland".

I love seeing little girls in pigtails and with their hair pulled back with a ribbon.

Shackman "Early American Doll"

A pretty little wooden jointed doll.

I love the floral fabric of her dress which has a slight hint of a metallic sheen. 

This doll came in its original box.

The illustration bears only a passing resemblance to the doll itself,

don't you think?

The box says the doll is made in Japan and copyrighted by the Shackman company of NY.

It seems to have been produced in the early 60's through 1970

based on other similar dolls found on the web. 

She has a sweet painted face framed in lace from her bonnet. 

This homely little doll might be made by the same company.

I'm not sure. It is painted with different facial features but the feet are clad in a very similar fashion.

The yellow homemade dress appears to be a piece of a childs cotton stockings (tights). 

Here are the two sets of feet. It is a very weird way to add a shoe.

Why not just leave it ending in a blunt point like a ballerina's toe on point.

Dollmakers

Dollmakers and Their Stories: Women Who Changed the World of Play by Krystyna Goddu is an excellent book on female dollmakers of the past and a few from more recent times. I enjoyed reading about Madame Alexander's history as well as Pleasant Rowland, the founder of the American Girls collection. The book is targeted at young adults but I found it well put together and a good read.

Peg and Friends

My heart flutters to see these darling wooden Peg Dolls.

Aren't their outfits lovely?

I can see them coming and going from a doll's house,

going to the market to pick up some fresh vegetables for supper.

Sunny

A darling dolly made for me by my big sister when I was little.

The body consists of fabric covered drinking straws, the hair, yellow yarn

and the head with a face hand-stitched with sewing thread.

I love the way the fabric folds on the face and the dirt smudges of play.

Ichimatsu Dolls

Gorgeous antique Ichimatsu dolls.

Two Dutch Dolls

 These two Dutch dolls seemingly dressed for an adventure with a Golliwog in a Florence Upton book.

 The 1895 book by mother/daughter duo, Bertha and Florence Upton.

Here is a link for the Upton's book on Project Gutenberg.
There are two opinions about why dolls made in southern Germany came to be called Dutch dolls. One is that the word for Germany is Deutsch and sounds very much like the word Dutch which could have lead to the confusion. There is also the possibility that because some imports to England of toys and dolls came through the Dutch ports thus the perception of being a "Dutch" doll.

Grodner Valley Dolls

Beautiful peg wooden dolls made, I presume, in the Grodner Valley in what is now southern Germany and Northern Italy. The last doll pictured here is more refined and possibly earlier or from a different area of Germany. There are other areas such as the Nuremburg area and Sonneberg, Germany known for wooden toy manufacture. Most of the wooden toys made their way through the Nuremburg area for sale and distribution making it hard to attribute any one design to a specific locality.