One of my newest Old Pretenders

When I got out of the hospital and got feeling better, I just had to set down and make a doll that I wanted to make......just loose myself in making it and forget about everything but creating a doll I would be very proud of.....The other thing I wanted to concentrate on with this doll is the best patina I could create and I think I got it.....I decided to show her to some friends and have posted their comments on her below, letting them speak about the doll rather than me.
Best Wishes: David

It is a testament to your empathy with these mute little wooden people that you create them with so much care and consideration for their mythical past and ensure it is truly reflected in their overall finish and look!
I am sure they HAVE existed for centuries and that you have simply rediscovered them trapped in the blocks of wood you find and so you have kindly then released them from their incarceration to live again!!
You are you see actually a very benevolent magician!!
Dollmaker extrordinaire!!
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

David, You have excelled yourself......again!!!!
I thought the patina on my doll looked great but this is just as excellent and in her box!!!!!!!!!!!
An absolute TRIUMPH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for the photos!
Your amazing skills re the aging process!!! It is truly magical!!!!!!

Dear David,
Thank you so much for all the photos of your latest "doll in a box"!!
She is truly superb!!!
A real work of art!!!!
Absolutely lovely with that, tug at the heartstrings aura that is just impossible to define but you know when it is there!!!
There is a poignancy behind the eyes which shows through onto the finished doll's face and is I am sure just there when you finish certain dolls and although they are all lovely, some do seem to have more "soul" than others if I can define it that way!!This gorgeous latest doll has it in bucket loads!!!
Her dress is amazing too. It looks as if the wrinkles and folds in her sleeves and skirt have been there forever!!
The "dirt" and patination are incredible!! This latest set of photos shows up your consummate skills to their best!!
I don't know how you do it but you have definitely captured the magical touch of bringing real antique dolls to life!!!
I think you and Paul must have been wooden doll makers in olde England in a previous life!!
That is the only explanation for such wonders to behold!!!!

David: I love the doll, her patina is incredible. Even taking into account the lightening affect of the camera flash, I can see the depth of patina that seems to even extend under the surface of the paint! She is amazing in her unbleached linen gown... Very simple, and yes, it would be impossible to distinguish her from an original!
She is so very lovely, dirt & and all! The patina is amazing, the hands a sculptural dream... I don't know how you do it, but I an certainly very glad you do!

A big thank you to everyone for your lovely compliments above!

Blogger has evidentially changed to a slide show (which I do not like) when you left click on any of our images to try to enlarge them. Now they do not enlarge to full size.

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David
                                      

Saving Elswyth

This sweet little English wooden named Elswyth that recently came into our lives, was made in the very late 18th century / early 19th century. We were approached by a dealer who ask to completely restore her so she was sent to us for inspection. She is far from the rare and wonderful early 18th century dolls but from the moment she arrived, it was very obvious that her paint and patina is 100% all original and she is loaded with personality.
When she arrived here she captured my heart and I could just not put her aside. For a week or more, I carried her around with me and took her with me into the studio to start to work on her and every time I sat down to undress her or start the restoration, I just could not force myself to touch her in anyway.
Every day, I did the same thing, over and over. Carry her into the studio, look at that face and say, no way, I just can't do it.....
We were ask to completely restore and repaint her face and body and replace her arms and legs with correct wooden replacements along with re-dressing her. Basically there would be nothing left of her all original paint and her originality which made me feel just terrible and very anxious.
Elswyth may be the last phase of English wooden made in the late 18th/early 19th century but she is quite rare because she has remained completely untouched since the 1820's/1830's and this is a rarity for a little English wooden of any period.
Granted, as you can see, she had lost her original legs and arms but they were lost very early on in her life and were lovingly replaced as best as was possible by her little owner in the early 1800's with the most adorable cloth arms and legs and her lower body was covered as well, giving her a plump look in her simple dress. Her very simple and adorable but crudely made dress was made at the same time out of polished cotton dating from the 1820's/1830's and she has her original bonnet on as well. She has obviously remained untouched and exactly as she is today for almost 200 years now. Her sweet face shows signs of her age but I just could not bring myself to touch her and her surface finish and paint are stable so why ruin her I ask???
As you will see in the first two photos of her below, there was only one very distracting pop off of the paint layer, down to the plaster layer, just below her nose which ran down through her lips. This is the ONLY restoration I have done on her period (as seen in the third photo) and no one could really ever tell by just looking at her in person that her lips have had this small restoration. Of course I only put paint back where it was missing when restoring this area for her, giving her hint of a smile back to her.
Every time I started to undress her and remove those simple little arms and legs, something inside me said NO WAY! I just can't do it!
SO. I ask her owner, if they would please just sell her to us as is and they agreed.
Elswyth now lives here with us, resting on her own very special settee which sets right by my chair in our living room. We are so happy to have her and she will remain untouched and just as she is and has been for almost 200 years, as long as we are her caretakers.
I hope everyone enjoys the photos of this very simple but very special little survivor that has won my heart from the moment I unwrapped her. When anyone sees her in person, its so obvious that this little doll was so loved when she was new and throughout her entire life.
She is one of my favourite dolls now and will always be and I have a feeling, if she could talk to us, I think she would be one of the happiest doll we have ever know.
Just look at that face.
Hope everyone enjoys the photos and her story. Remember to click on the small images to enlarge them quite a bit to see the detail.

Blogger has evidentially changed to a slide show (which I do not like) when you left click on any of our images to try to enlarge them. Now they do not enlarge to full size.

To see any image full size, right click on the image, then click on "open link in a new tab" for a full sized image.
David & Paul



Late 17th Century Lady

We love the very rare late 17th century English wooden dolls and there are only two extremely rare antique examples of this doll from the 1690's known to exist. We based our doll, which is as close as possible to an exact copy of the antique, and made for our personal collection, on one of the two antiques from the 1690's we have had the privilege to have here with us. She has become one of my all time favourites now. We have been very lucky to have one of the rarest examples of a 17th century English woodens from the 1680's made by William Higgs here with us as well as this fine ladies antique 17th century counterpart. We feel very strongly that the antique example of this doll could very well have been made by Higgs due to the extremely close body type, proportions, hip and leg style, hand type, painting and carving style. I suppose it could have been made by one of Higgs apprentices but either way, we feel its from his workshop in Whitechaple 1690's and not by Newton, his competition at the time.
We hope you enjoy the photos.

Golden Elegance

I have been working on a new larger doll and her dress now for a while which has been very difficult and labour intensive. I wanted her to be the most historically correct and authentic early English wooden circa 1740 so that no one could tell her apart from a antique. I had to make sure she was as perfect as I could possible make her and her dress, with all the attributes, correct face, body type, carving style on the doll and sewing techniques on the dress exactly like a all original antique example.

The dress was even more challenging as it is made out of a very rare and my personal favourite piece of the most wonderful 18th century reverse sateen true silk damask fabric I got from England last year or the year before. Its in one of my all time favourite colours which I had been looking for, for many years, the 18th century citron yellow which is seen in a lot of 18th century dresses in museums but nearly impossible to find today. Its so soft and shifty and thin so its so hard to work with but this makes the drape of the dress wonderful and the puddling effect of the fabric in the train I love as well.
Also, being a solid colour, every detail has to be perfect or mistakes would show. You can't hide anything like you can with a patterned fabric.
Everything had to be lined and backed to give some body but its really amazing now that its complete. The stomacher took me days to make which is rare but it is constructed like the real thing and I even carved and sanded super thin tapered bones out of bamboo for the stays / boning in the stomach which you can see through it.
I worked for over 12 hours on her bonnet as well and what a lot of work it was but it turned out really nice.
I am so pleased with this doll and feel its my best and finest doll to date. A doll that I feel no one could ever tell in person that it was not a antique as every element of the doll, the patina and the dress is exactly right and historically correct and I would not change a thing. This is rare for me as I am never 100% pleased with every tiny detail on any doll, being a perfectionist here. I hesitate to call her my masterpiece that I have been working towards creating for 7 or 8 years but that's really what she is to me.....and what several friends have called her who have seen a sneak preview.
One friend said.....
"Well, I think this doll is magnificent...one of the best you have ever done. I love her dress and presentation...the only thing that keeps her from looking like an antique is that she is not dirty or beat up. Great job, really."
My answer to this......"its funny you would notice the lack of dirt and dings on her. I said to Paul her dirt does not show up in the flash photos......In person, she has the perfect amount of dust (to simulate coal dust) dirt and subtle dinge in all the right places, collected between her bodice and bust line, front and back, the dress around the bottom hem and all the right spots from "250+ years of handling" and the dinge and patina in person matches from the doll, to the dress to the undergarments all equally so its there, it just does not show with the flash photography....... I bet it will show better in outside photos with natural light and no flash.....Also, her aging and distressing to the doll herself and her finish did not show up well in the flash photos......
We shall see how much her aging and patina and dinge shows in the outside photos when I take them.
In the meantime, I'll share some lovely comments from friends who have seen a sneak peek of her and also the flash photos of her which I am very pleased with.
David

"I don't know which side of her I love best! She is as beautiful from the back as she is from the front. The way the dress flows at the back is incredible. Funnily enough I am working on an article and the picture I have attached was in front of me when I received your email. The dolls have the same bonnet! I am in awe of your ability and congratulate you on this work of art. Thank-you so much for sharing her with me. Congratulations!"

"STUNNING! she is absolutely stunning. I love everything about her. Her face is so beautiful. I cannot single out any thing favorite because it is all perfect.
As always you have done it again. Thank you thank you for sending me all these wonderful pictures, she shows so well against the black.
Cheers!"

"Your new doll looks truly fabulous, my heart skipped a beat when I saw it, a combination of the fabric you purchased from me and your incredible skill with cut and style, possible the finest doll so far."

"Oh my gosh, David, she is BEAUTIFUL. I absolutely LOVE this dress, you are honestly amazing. No one can touch or come close to what you two create."
"Your newest doll is certainly a masterpiece!"

"She is absolutely spectacular and impossible to tell from a antique! You have outdone yourself this time for sure! She is so lovely and the bonnet you made is a marvel in itself. So beautiful and I was shocked when I saw your hand and realized the size of the bonnet. She is perfect! I don't think people realize the time and effort that is spent making even the smallest elements of your dolls and their dress ensembles. Your said the bonnet on the new doll took over 12 hours? So beautiful!"

"There could not be a antique English wooden, any finer or more wonderful than this doll. No one, not even a expert, (but then again you two ARE the experts) could tell this is not a early antique English wooden"

"Oh my goodness David, she is a real beauty, you must be so proud. Her gown is so exquisite in cut, fit & style, a masterpiece indeed! The way the silk hangs and clings is quite mesmerizing, the colour is so rich and opulent, I think she has to be my favourite out of all your 'posh' young ladies so far; as you know, I have a real soft-spot for the slightly poorer more modest dollies. Thank you again for so generously sharing your creations with me, a wonderful set of photographs to wake up to this morning, what a perfect start to the day!"

Thank you to everyone for these lovely compliments. As per usual, click on any image for a large scale view.
David

Our newest William and Mary period doll

Presenting our newest William and Mary period English wooden, based on very rare antique example, especially the face type and painting style.
She is about 13 inches tall.
Hope everyone enjoys the photos.