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.

Wisconsin Historical Museum Online Collection

Lots and lots of beautiful dolls online to oggle. Check them out here at the Wisconsin Historical Museum. There are other collections as well as dolls on this wonderful site.
--Happy Times---

Indian Doll

This is a doll that I made of leather, paint and beading. I stuffed her with wool, beaded her eyes and mouth and took a few stitches to indicate a nose. Her hair is heavy carpet thread.

I made up my own pattern from several parts in a rag doll book. I made the "teeth" on her dress from fimo clay, stained it once it was baked and used a gloss finish. The moccasins were made from drawing around the finished foot and estimating the surrounding top. The material is chamois leather that big box stores sell for drying off cars. I wet the fringe after I cut it so it would curl and stretch a bit.

--originally posted here--