Favorite hat

I have this strange fascination for doll-hats. Strange it is, as I've never worn a hat, nor do I suit them (whenever I get brave enough to try one it generates amusements from those around....so every now and then I will comply as I like to make people smile).

This wonderful hat is worn by my big Bebe Phenix. Both the French Bebe and her hat is from around 1890. The hat was very dusty when it arrived and was treated with a generous sprinkling of odorless talk-powder. I used a hairdryer (on cold setting) to blow off the powder (a sight to behold; standing in the shower cubicle to minimize the amount of dust everywhere :D).

The gift

I first noticed the drawings around a one year ago. They hang in the corridor of our local Childrens hospital. The date on these wonderful drawings made me wonder of the "why's and who's and how comes".

I found that our local Children's hospital had been given as a gift from Sweden to Norway after the liberation in 1947. The drawings was also part of that gift. They were all made by Swedish primary (elementary) school children in 1947.

A new little lady

She is my little Kestner girl and she's also my Cinderella; the owner of one little shoe. She is unmarked except for a number 4 at the nape of her neck. I could tell who her maker was as her plaster pate was all intact. She also has that little smile around her mouth that so many dolls from the Kestner factory has.

Once upon a time...

....there were two little girls; growing up together. 

They were not sisters, yet they felt like they were. They lived with their old grandfather; once a fisherman and smallholder, and their mothers; Kristine and Monsina. Their mothers were true sisters, growing up in Øygarden (a small kingdom of islands).

The sisters and their father, Mons, moved to Bergen around 1898 and the two ladies found work at what was termed in their time; an eatery establishment. They also did laundry to make ends meet. As family history recalls; Nina Bull, the niece of famous Norwegian violin player Ole Bull, was one of their customers. Nina Bull was very fond of Alfrida and Ingeborg and treated them with items from her own childhood sent her by her uncle when he was touring Paris.

The dark haired girl is Alfrida Constanse who was to become my grandmother. She was born in 1905 and the younger girl in the photo is Ingeborg Elvilda Amanda; her cousin. 

 Monsina died young and her sister Kristina becoming the mother and caregiver of two little girls instead of one. Thus the two little girls became real sisters.

Itty bitty babies

Dessie (Medina Odessa) and Chloe, cernit/clay mix OOAK's by Lorna Miller Sands;

No antique clothdolls yet

It is not entirely true. I do have one little cloth doll. She's our Mrs. Santa and she lived in the Christmas tree every year, throughout my childhood. I can remember spending  so much time playing in the Christmas tree. My mother was endlessly patient and never once complained, or even commented, on the shower of pine needles.

Mrs. Santa has been passed down the generations and now lives with us.. I know little of who made her or even when she was made and there are no family elders to ask.These days she spends her time in the doll cabinet but join the other tree decorations every Christmas.

My lady of Shalott....

My lady Jumeau is my only French fashion doll. She has a leather gusseted body and leather arms and hands with sewn fingers. Charlotte is wearing the tiniest, most beautiful fashion boots and although her dress is worn, it is quite correct for her day. Her bonnet is old, like she is, I am sure, from the same period of around 1870 as the fine lady herself. Her eye-color is most stunning. 

I sometimes wish she had a lady companion, but she insists that she is most pleased that a China lady lives in the same cabinet. Charlotte befriended her upon her arrival and they are now standing side-by-side peeking out through the glass.

Mairie

I did promise to show Mairie. She is Ellie's sister, made also by Pierotti. I call them my Snow-white and Rosered, from the fairytale . 

Mairie has dark brown inserted human hair, whereas Ellie's is mohair,  and her long plait hangs loose over her shoulder, secured with a light blue ribbon.

To my knowledge, her clothes are original, but I did give her a lovely bonnet when she arrived. She is also the owner of the blue leather boots, worn but still beautiful.... 

Mairie is a very pretty wax doll with so much presence. She has  so many different expressions that one could never tire of her; sometimes sad and sullen, soft and loving, thoughtful or with a little smile....

My  two sisters look like they have always lived together. If truth is told, they must have separated already in Pierotti's workshop during the 1850's - 60's. The little girls who once owned them must have been quiet, careful little girls as their dolls has survived in such marvelous condition. Ellinot and Mairie spent many years residing in museums; one at Helen Moe's Doll Museum; the other at Mary Merrits Doll Museum, and was not reunited until they came home to us.

Now my Snow-white and Rosered  stand side by side, whispering little secrets in each others ears; telling the tales of years apart and sharing dreams of the future.

These boots were made for walking.......

I have always loved little doll-shoes. So dainty and small....

This is the footwear of some of my dolls;

 

 

  

The little red dancing shoe,s with faux lepard decorations on the toes, belongs to my 1850's wax baby. She chose them herself, insisting that these were the shoes that she wanted. 

I simply did not have the heart to tell her that they are wholly inappropriate for a baby. Wrong age (shoes are 70 years to new for her and besides they were never for a baby. She does, however, insist she's a character) and most certainly the wrong color.

  

This is my Cinderella shoe. Belonging to my little early Kestner. Her other one long gone..in a different time...in another country....

 

I have a big delightful china lady. She has such a pleasant expression, I imagine she was once a cook in a grand house. On her day off she's wearing her salmon pink summer dress, maybe given by a kind mistress. Who could imagine that under that hemline, her tired swollen feet are wrapped in comfortable straw slippers (maybe this contributes to her happy moods).

 

There is, however, my little sweet parian, who is sooo proud of her dainty bare feet with her sewn toes, that she simply refuses to wear any kind of foot-wear at all. I cannot protest this, as her feet, in all honesty, are just as lovely as she thinks....

A Fairy-tale in wax....

She is my Ellinor, Ellie for short, and my very favorite doll.

Ellie was made in England i the 1850's by a a doll maker called Pierotti. Her cloth body carries the stamp of the Pantheon Bazaar. She is a poured wax doll with her wax poured in many layers to achieve the translucent look, mimicking real skin. Her hair is blond mohair, inserted strand by strand, taking her maker more than two full weeks to complete.
Her eyes are beautiful pale blue glass eyes and seem to look straight at you. Her original silk dress is as fine as the day it was made; hand-stitched with piping in the style correct for an 1850's little 5 year old girl. Around her neck hangs a beautiful miniature Rosary.

Ellie once belonged to Helen Moe's Doll Museum, Hollywood, CA.