Our personalized gift baskets for all occasions are shipped worldwide!
Join Our RSS Feed!!
Archive for the ‘Dolls’ Category
Lenci Felt Dolls
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
A Brief History of Lenci
In 1919, Elena Scavini opened up her little business making felt dolls, and her process of manufacturing pressed felt faces became a new way of making dolls. In a world where little girls could not play with their porcelain dolls, the Lenci became very desirable. Unfortunately, Lencis were always extremely expensive, and only those girls who were fortunate to own expensive porcelain dolls, ended up owning the Lencis. Soon, lots of wonderful sculptors and artists joined Elena and her husband and they started this magnificent company called Lenci.
This original E. Scavini dolls of the 20′s and 30s were numbered: the 109, 111, 300 series, etc. These were the original early Boudoir dolls, children dolls and character dolls. After a while, the Lenci dolls came with their specific names. Some of the early dolls are signed on their foot, but are more recognizable to the collector by their look.
Elena Scavini’s Life and Her Advice to Her Daughter Anili
Elena Scavini was born in 1886, and as a young girl led a very interesting life. She left home at 14 with her sister to join a circus. Later, she lived in Germany were she became a photographer. She met her husband in her late 20′s. While her husband fought in World War I, Elena became pregnant and lost her first child. Her first dolls were made at that time. Her dolls were taken to the United States some time later, and were welcomed as gorgeous and unique. They were truly a work of art and were sought out in the States by the the rich and famous. Elena sold the Lenci company to her director, Garella, and left the company in 1939. She had two children Anili and Carlo. When her daughter, Anili decided to create her own dolls, Elena guided her and told her to make sure that her doll company was small. Elena Scavini died in 1974.
The Garella Family Takes Over
In the 1940′s, the company was purchased by the director of the company, and for many years he continued manufacturing dolls in the Lenci style. Unfortunately during the 50′s, some Lencis were made out of plastic, and were not the most beautiful dolls. In the late 70′s and early 80′s, there was a resurgence of some of the original models. From the original designs of E. Scavini and group of artists, 61 models of Lenci were remade in a limited run of 999 copies per model. These dolls are much sought after by the Lenci collector. They are most precious and have an array of different looks. Please ask questions of the seller with regards to the condition of these dolls. Some are in marvelous condition, but some have been stored in garages, where mold has ruined many a doll. In the 90′s, Garella’s son and two daughters took over the company, but they were not able to maintain the Lenci tradition, and closed the company in 2001.
Prosperity Doll
This particular Lenci doll was made in the 50s. A real collector’s dream, this doll is made of felt but preserved with some type of lacquer, so that this doll is waterproof. The Prosperity doll can still be found in Ebay auctions, and it is one of the most sought-after dolls of the Lenci collector.
Collecting Lenci Dolls Today
Today, these dolls are scarce. When you compare a site full of Madame Alexanders mounting to over 5,000, and you go to a Lenci site, and in a good week you find 106 dolls, you sigh with relief and say to yourself, “This is my lucky week! I might get the Lenci of my dreams.” Great resources for the new Lenci collector are available through various books, plus an informative Lenci site here.
A Tip On Caring for a Lenci or any Felt Doll
Remember, these dolls are made out of felt, and therefore cannot come in contact with water, or left in extreme temperatures. They should be displayed properly and kept away from direct sun, as the colors will fade.
Types of Lencis
Most wanted Lencis are the original E. Scavini children series, boudoir dolls, and character dolls. These dolls range from five hundred dollars to thousands of dollars. Lenci lovers want these dolls, even with moth holes, hair missing, and moth bitten clothes, legs, etc… The diehard Lenci collector finds these dolls the most exciting. And they are beautiful indeed, but for the doll collector that wants a clean, beautiful looking doll without damage you should turn to:
1978 to 1983 dolls. These are the original remakes. Most of these dolls are well taken care of, come with their certificate of authenticity, have their original tags, and beautiful boxes. Beware of sellers that don’t know much about Lencis: if they are not collectors or don’t know much about them, you are taking a chance that you are either not buying a Lenci, or that the Lenci is in poor condition. Please ask the buyer many questions, such as when the doll was made, does it come with Certificate of Authenticity (preferably parchment), does it come with a box, does it have any holes, and/or imperfections.
The modern Lenci was manufactured in the 1990s, and some of these dolls are not all felt. The original Lencis from the 20s and 30s had a hollow torso body and movable arms and legs, and two fingers stitched together (that is still the trademark of the Lenci). In the 1990s some of the dolls were made out of felt arms, legs, and head, but their bodies were made out of cotton. These dolls have a more modern look to them, their hair is sometimes synthetic, not mohair or real hair as the older Lencis. Their clothes are not felt, like the remakes, but cloth. These dolls are great to display, but be aware that they are chubbier-looking then the other Lencis, and also less valuable. These dolls were sold at Home Shopping networks, therefore loosing the uniqueness of the old all-felt, original-style Lenci.
Lencis come in all sizes. Some are composition, some are all felt, and as described above they come in different styles depending on the time they were made. Many other Italian manufacturers, as well as other European makers tried to make dolls appear to be Lencis, but they are not. All Lencis have a number stamped to the back of their head, stiched neck, or fingers that are stitched together. Not all Lencis are side glancing, many of the modern ones look straight at you. Some of the remakes done in the 90s look slightly different from the remakes of the late 70s and early 80s.
Bidders beware of individuals who call their dolls Lenci Type or Lenci Like. these are not Lencis, therefore they are less valuable and not worth pursuing.
There are other dolls that are made out of felt that are absolutely incredible. I recommend Maggie Iacono dolls, John Wright dolls, and Debbie Richmond dolls.
Happy hunting for your favorite felt doll!
Comments(4)
Wood Dolls
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Wood is one of the earliest known materials used to make dolls. However, very few dolls are made of wood today–wood is not a preferred material for children’s dolls (and wasn’t in the 20th century) because wood is hard and unyielding. Also, most wood dolls must be hand carved since wood does not lend itself to easily molding as does vinyl, bisque materials.
Wood was one of the earliest materials that dollmakers looked to, since wood was easily carved to resemble human form, and it was sturdy and unbreakable. However, most wood dollmaking was done by artists or by cottage industries. Today, most wood dolls are made by doll artists (such as Jean Lotz and her Hitty dolls) or in special limited editions for collectors (Madame Alexander). Wendy Lawton makes highly poseable wood bodies for her porcelain-head dolls.
The earliest dolls made out of wood were not playthings–they were symbolic and ceremonial figures, often of a religious nature. Italian creche figures made for hundreds of years are an example of this. Some of the earliest known examples of wood dolls made for play are from England, and later Germany as well. Today, most wood dolls made are created for collectors. They have a particularly folk-art feel to them, and are prized because they are handcrafted.
As mentioned, wood dolls are known from ancient times. Italian creche figure examples are known as early as the 1500s (very rare) and English wood dolls from the late 1600s and early 1700s are quite rare. English wood dolls are more plentiful from the late 1700s and early 1800s, and German Grodner Tal and Peg Wood dolls are from the 1800s. A cottage industry created peg woodens well into the 20th century, and there are artists today still making wood dolls.
The names of most early companies that produced wood dolls in Europe have been lost to time. Most wood dolls have been hand-carved by artists or artisans, or are from small cottage industries. In the United States, companies (artists) that produced wood dolls in the late 1800s include Joel Ellis and Mason, Taylor. Today, as mentioned, several artists make Hitty (a popular storybook character) including Jean Lotz. Madame Alexander makes Wendy Woodkin wood dolls hand-carved in China today.
The very earliest wood dolls, when found in excellent or better condition, generally sell for many thousands of dollars at auction. French Court dolls and very early English dolls from the late 1600s and early 1700s are dolls that are in this category and which can sell from $5,000 to $50,000 or more. An early Italian creche figure sold at auction at Theriault’s last year for $21,000.Later Queen Anne dolls (which are not actually from the Queen Anne period) from the late 1700s to early 1800s can be found for much lower prices, especially when worn.
American wood dolls such as Joel Ellis and Mason, Taylor dolls are generally found quite worn today, with prices from $500 to $1,000. German Grodner Tal and Tuck Comb dolls vary, from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand for very early or large examples, and those with unusual hairstyles and other features.
Modern wood dolls, such as the Wendy Woodkin series from Madame Alexander, generally sell between $150 to $300. Hitty doll reproductions vary widely in prices.
by Denise Van Patten
Source: About.com
Wax Dolls
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Wax dolls come in two main types. Wax over composition dolls were made by applying a thin coat of wax over composition heads and limbs. They were easier and less expensive to produce than the poured wax dolls. The wax over composition dolls had a more natural appearance than the ones made of only composition. They were made from the 1830′s to the 1900′s, mostly by German doll makers. In the 1870′s, the English started producing some wax over composition dolls. These dolls by the English are usually well marked with body stamps, therefore, wax over composition dolls with no marking are assumed to be German.
Unfortunately, these dolls were subject to the changes in climate, much like their all composition counterparts. Changes in temperature and humidity caused the composition bases to shrink and expand, resulting in cracking and crazing of the wax covering.
Poured wax dolls originated from the widespread Roman Catholic practice of creating religious effigies and votive offerings from wax. The craftsmen expanded their art into wax doll-making. This was developed in London and between 1850 and 1930, most of the fine wax dolls were created. Wax dolls were much more realistic looking than any other type of doll. The wax was translucent, luminous and warm to the touch. The properties of wax allowed the artists to create portrait dolls which accurately depicted the facial features and expressions of their subjects.
Poured wax doll modelers all used basically the same process to create their dolls. First, a doll was sculpted from either wax or clay, which was then used to create a plaster mold. The molds were then used to cast the doll pieces. The techniques used to finish the dolls are what made them unique. Some wax dolls have inset hair where strands of clumps of hair were inserted into the scalp. This made for a more realistic head of hair than wigs produced. Blown glass or molded eyes were set into the cut-out eye sockets, and eyelashes were also inserted with a technique similar to that used to insert hair in the scalp. Most of the poured wax dolls have bodies made out of calico stuffed with animal hair or other wooly fibers. The arms and legs were cast at the same time as the head to ensure color match.
by Gary Sowatzka
Source: Sowatzka’s Dolls
Vinyl Dolls
Friday, July 9, 2010
Although it seems like a defiance of common sense, by the time vinyl was first used as a material for manufacturing children’s toys, dolls had already had a long history of fragility. Vinyl dolls solved that problem. They didn’t break easily, as porcelain and bisque dolls did; they didn’t manifest crazing or chipping over time as did composition dolls; and they didn’t crack or split at the seams, as with hard plastic dolls. Vinyl dolls also made rooted hair possible in dolls, replacing the glued-on wigs of hard plastic and composition dolls.
Of course, early vinyl dolls still had their problems. Hard vinyl tended to lose its color over time — these days, many vintage vinyl dolls have arms, legs, and torsos that are each a different shade, making them look rather washed out from the neck down. Likewise, soft vinyl sometimes discolored as well, darkening or turning orange or yellow with age.
Vinyl became popular as a material for making dolls at a time when fashion dolls were also becoming very popular. As a result, many vintage fashion dolls are made from vinyl. Although at the time, toddler dolls — dolls that take the form of a small child, or a toddler — were being phased out, the few companies that continued to make them began to convert to vinyl dolls, as well. Vinyl was also a good material for baby dolls, as it is flexible and durable enough to withstand the play of small children.
Rooted hair was a huge incentive behind the shift to vinyl dolls. Although saran wigs could be washed, combed, and curled, they were also more likely to lose hair with repeated combing, among other problems. The rooted hair of vinyl dolls was much more appropriate for “beauty shop” play, as it tended to be more durable. As a result, when companies made the shift to vinyl dolls, it was usually first to a hard plastic body with a vinyl head. Such dolls started appearing as early as the early to mid-fifties.
Baby dolls, on the other hand, typically had a hard plastic head and a soft vinyl body; vinyl, a much softer and more pliable material, is more realistic as baby’s skin and more huggable for young children. Later baby dolls were made entirely of soft vinyl, some with rooted, baby-like hair. These vinyl dolls sometimes had drink-and-wet devices in them, which enabled them to pass water, bottle-fed to them through a hole in their mouths, through another hole into their diapers. Sometimes vinyl baby dolls also had voice boxes or “criers” in them.
Although today’s vinyl dolls are very different than the first ones to appear on the market, many modern dolls and toys are still made from vinyl. Vinyl has proved to be a durable material, not just in its ability to withstand playwear, but also in its ability to answer to the demands of the toy market.
by Katharine Swan
Source: WiseGeek
Papier Mache Dolls
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Papier Mache dolls were introduced in Germany in the early 1800s. Prior to then, most dolls were carved out of wood; a few were molded (simply) in wax. Papier Mache was a good material to make doll heads from because it could be molded and painted. Molding allowed more realistic doll features than carving, and the dolls were lighter than carved wood. Papier Mache was the preferred material by German doll makers until the mid 1800s when China Dolls were introduced.
Although very early (pre-1800) Papier Mache dolls have been found, they are relatively rare. In the early 1800s the German doll industry discovered Papier Mache dolls, and by the 1830s and 1840s, they were the most popular material for dollmaking. Papier Mache dolls were also made in France and the United states in the 1800s. Although production of the dolls greatly declined when china dolls became common, they were made throughout the 1800s, and some doll artists today still work with it.
Papier Mache dolls don’t tend to be very tiny because it is a coarse material–the smallest antique ones that you tend to find are 8 to 10 inches; the vast majority are larger. Most antique Papier Mache dolls are between 12 and 28 inches; larger ones do exist.
Many of the major makers of china and later bisque dolls in the 1800s also made Papier Mache dolls including Kestner; however it is usually very difficult to identify an early or mid-1800s Papier Mache dolls as to its exact maker because nearly all were unmarked. However, in the United States its often easy to identify a Grenier Papier Mache doll because many had labels on the torso that still exist today.
Some of the earliest commonly found Papier Mache dolls are called Milliner’s Models today. These dolls were made from approximately 1840 through 1860, and are often found in smaller sizes (9 to 15 inches) and with wooden limbs. Many German dollmakers made Papier Maches that greatly resembled China dolls. Some fashion dolls from the mid-1800s were made in France (predecessors to the later French bisque and china dolls). Later, some German Papier Mache dolls resembled their bisque sisters.
When German china dolls displaced Papier Mache dolls as the doll of choice for children and manufacturers, production of Papier Mache dolls plummeted, and it plummeted further when bisque dolls came into favor. In the history of dolls, it is common to see this sort of displacement of one material for making doll heads by another when technology and tastes change.
Very early Papier Maches, Papier Maches with rare molded hairstyles, early French Fashion dolls made of Papier Mache and some rarer and fancier Milliners Models can bring prices of several thousand dollars at auction. More common mid-1800s Papier Maches, Greniers, and late 1800s/early 1900s Papier Maches generally are valued at several hundred dollars. Prices vary greatly based on the condition of the dolls.
by Denise Van Patten
Source: About.com
Recent Comments