Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Who Loves Doll Collections??

Hello friends and thanks for visiting again. I have been itching to show off my little International doll collection. I had an elderly aunt that traveled extensively as a young woman and she would always bring me a doll from the country she visited. At the time I thought the dolls were pretty, but I was very upset with my mom for not letting me play with them. I could look at them, but not 'Play' with them.
Among my collection are some Norah Wellings fabric dolls. Norah Wellings was a doll designer from England back in the early 1920's. Norah stated her own doll company in 1925. Many of her dolls were sold on cruise ships over the Atlantic as souvenirs and at different international locations as souvenirs for tourist trade. My little corseted pixie is made of felt and velveteen. My dolls have spent the last 40 years in a box in my basement and it seems that was the perfect place. Seems sunlight would have faded the velveteen badly....who knew!
This is my little Beafeater..isn't he cute? I love his impish grin..not at all like the real thing. The tag hanging from his hand says Norah Wellings, Tower of London. My aunt must have purchased him while visiting the Tower.
Here is that impish grin again...on a london Bobbie . You can click on all these photos to get a closer look. All the clothes are velveteen and so soft.
My little Peter Pan is one of my favorites. You can see how Norah marked her dolls on their feet with her personal tag.


This doll was purchased in Spain and I just adore her. What's not to love...I mean look at that waist! She fascinated me..her exquisite hour glass body, her eyelashes..beautiful. I used to look under her dress and check out her underwear...hey I was 5 years old! I can also admit to you now that I was mystified by her bosom...they were so ..so.......pointy.
She originally wore a mantilla headdress and I don't recall what happened to it. Maybe I tried to wear it myself and destroyed it in the process. Sounds like something I would have done. 
Ok......this little Brazilian beauty captured my attention for one reason only.....she had the biggest, roundest boobs I had ever seen.....oh yeah, I touched her boobs too. Do you see a pattern here?
Just look at that face and the wonderful felt fruit...isn't she the most wonderful thing?
This is my Canary Island beauty. I love her ribbon skirt and she too had large pointy boobs. I know you are wondering....yes I touched them...so what!
Love the hat and veil...adorable.
I believe this brunette came from Florence, Italy. The tag says Eros as the maker and the word Abruzzi. I had to peek under her skirt too.
My aunt brought this bagpiper back from Edinburgh, Scotland. His head has eyes that open and close. You know I looked under his kilt and I'm not telling!
When my sons take these dolls to Antiques Roadshow, many years from now, this will be the photo that will place me with the dolls and make a good story. That's what I think anyway. I hope they don't say anything about me fondling them...that could get uncomfortable.
So what about you...what do you have a cool collection of? Let me know in a comment and we can all enjoy each others collections.
Until next time...be kind and stay creative.
Don't forget...Friday is Pieday and it is cool and creamy..hint..hint.

18 comments:

w said...

i can't believe you touched the pointy boobs. also. dolls scare me. it's like. they follow me with their eyes.

Annette said...

Wonderful collection! I have lots of collections....bells, pewter, teapots and tea cups, cookbooks, just to name a few! Nothing with boobs though!!!

Kelly Ann said...

the look on your face as a child says it all...MINE ALL MINE!!!!!

My Life Under the Bus said...

What a sweet piece of your history ! I didn't grow up with any family other then my mother so I adore the old sentimental Victorian jewelry. Mother of pearl bird pins, charm bracelets, victorian hearts, hands, padlocks. Just looking at these tiny items makes me think of the original intent of passing on a bit of love. I like to think some of them survive so well because they were so cherished !

Abreaka Studios said...

so cool!! so unique!!! :)

Atelier Conti said...

Absolutely gorgeous! Your mother was so wise.

Tweed Thoughts said...

What a gorgeous collection Janet - I'm soooooooo jealous, hehe!! 'Fraid I don't collect anything except Harris Tweed! :D

Audrey said...

Nice collection! I was never a girly girl and didn't play with dolls. Actually only had one while growing up. I could push in her belly button to make her hair "grow". Don't know what happened to that doll.

SmitoniusandSonata said...

Those velveteen dolls are delightful! thanks for sharing.

Janet Metzger, Artist said...

I love how you are all avoiding the 'boob' thing ;-)

Wanda..... said...

They are beautiful...maybe they are the reason you love sewing and creating. I noticed several have "aprons".

Janet Metzger, Artist said...

As far as I can figure the above comment says "pay homage to the small things in life..as they bring happiness" in Chinese

Mary Bergfeld said...

What a fantastic collection, Janet. That photo of you with your dolls will be the real treasure for your family in years to come. The dolls look to be in pristine condition. How do you keep them from absorbing musty odors in storage?

Michelle Palmer said...

Your collection is amazing! LOVE that you kept them~ and in such wonderful condition! I never played with dolls. There are a few photos of me as a child dragging a doll along by the arm... while I pushed a truck! ha! ha!
Love your post words & the great photograph of you!

Joey Lynn Resciniti said...

That's quite a collection. My daughter would go nuts for it!

Aprons and More said...

I love the dolls! They are wonderful! I esp loved the picture of you with them..adorable!

Katy :)

Maytina said...

To be fair, I read Friday's post before I read this one, so I was already aware there was a 'boob issue' of some kind in this post. lol

I totally would have called you on it anyway - because I used to do the same thing! ;)

Hilary said...

I was going to write a post on careful keyword selection in order to increase your search engine rankings - you'll definitely be getting some hits from this post!