Better late than never, I guess...
Okay, about the bisque dolls I mentioned earlier:
Back in January, I attended a local collectable toy show/convention. It's funny how your tastes change... this sort of thing used to be the coolest event I could possibly imagine... but now that I'm not really interested in recent-ish action figures or Barbie-type dolls, I'm mostly bored by the whole thing. I found myself barely glancing at the majority of the booths, then zeroing in on anything that actually looked old (later I heard people complaining about how the con felt like a "flea market". I found that to be incredibly ironic, since the "flea market" booths were the only ones I found interesting). I actually had some money to spend, but was having a difficult time finding anything I wanted to spend it on.
Then I saw the most flea-markety booth of all: just chock full of seemingly random crap, strewn about all higgeldy-piggeldy. The proprietor was sitting on a chair w/ a handwritten sign hung around his neck that exclaimed "Everything less than $5," w/ the "$5" marked out & "$3" written underneath it.
So, I started rummaging.
Almost immediately, I found a strange little porcelain doll. Her head, body, & legs were all molded in one piece, while her arms were seperate pieces strung rather loosely through holes in her torso. She looked a little bit like Betty Boop, & had shiney silver hair.
I loved her instantly. ^_^
There was a big bin of miscellaneous doll clothes that I went digging through, next. Didn't find any clothes I wanted, but found another porcelain doll. She, too, was all one piece except for her arms, which were missing.
"Okay," I asked Mr. Proprietor, "How much for the 2 crazy dolls?"
"Um... how 'bout $5?"
"Sold!"
Later that afternoon, a friend of mine asked if the first doll mightn't be wearing the 2nd dolls arms. I hadn't noticed, but the arms did seem to be a little small for her, & of a level of grunginess more in keeping w/ the second doll. I'm still not sure whose arms they are, but I'm very happy that I bought both dolls, just in case the first doll really is borrowing the 2nd doll's arms.
The silver-haired doll is Sophie, the other is Charlotte.
After that weekend, I've discovered a whole new world of antique all-bisque dolls. The most well-known (and expensive o_O ) examples are probably the French Mignonettes. There were also a number of other French & German all-bisque dolls produced around the turn of the century... and then there were the Japanese dolls.
Most of the Japanese dolls are basically knock-offs of the French & German dolls, & tend to be much more crudely-made. They were cheaper when they were new, & they're cheaper now.
That suits me just fine. I happen to be completely enchanted w/ these girls, lopsided features, worn paint, & all. I'm finding that I actually prefer the ones that aren't anywhere near mint condition... there's just something about an 80-100 year old doll that was obviously loved & played with, y'know? I like to imagine what she's been up to all this time.
So, yeah. I've since added 2 more Japanese all-bisques to my collection, & I'd love to get more.
And guess what? Sophie's silver hair is actually factory-painted! I *need* more silver-haired dolls, dammit!
Back in January, I attended a local collectable toy show/convention. It's funny how your tastes change... this sort of thing used to be the coolest event I could possibly imagine... but now that I'm not really interested in recent-ish action figures or Barbie-type dolls, I'm mostly bored by the whole thing. I found myself barely glancing at the majority of the booths, then zeroing in on anything that actually looked old (later I heard people complaining about how the con felt like a "flea market". I found that to be incredibly ironic, since the "flea market" booths were the only ones I found interesting). I actually had some money to spend, but was having a difficult time finding anything I wanted to spend it on.
Then I saw the most flea-markety booth of all: just chock full of seemingly random crap, strewn about all higgeldy-piggeldy. The proprietor was sitting on a chair w/ a handwritten sign hung around his neck that exclaimed "Everything less than $5," w/ the "$5" marked out & "$3" written underneath it.
So, I started rummaging.
Almost immediately, I found a strange little porcelain doll. Her head, body, & legs were all molded in one piece, while her arms were seperate pieces strung rather loosely through holes in her torso. She looked a little bit like Betty Boop, & had shiney silver hair.
I loved her instantly. ^_^
There was a big bin of miscellaneous doll clothes that I went digging through, next. Didn't find any clothes I wanted, but found another porcelain doll. She, too, was all one piece except for her arms, which were missing.
"Okay," I asked Mr. Proprietor, "How much for the 2 crazy dolls?"
"Um... how 'bout $5?"
"Sold!"
Later that afternoon, a friend of mine asked if the first doll mightn't be wearing the 2nd dolls arms. I hadn't noticed, but the arms did seem to be a little small for her, & of a level of grunginess more in keeping w/ the second doll. I'm still not sure whose arms they are, but I'm very happy that I bought both dolls, just in case the first doll really is borrowing the 2nd doll's arms.
The silver-haired doll is Sophie, the other is Charlotte.
After that weekend, I've discovered a whole new world of antique all-bisque dolls. The most well-known (and expensive o_O ) examples are probably the French Mignonettes. There were also a number of other French & German all-bisque dolls produced around the turn of the century... and then there were the Japanese dolls.
Most of the Japanese dolls are basically knock-offs of the French & German dolls, & tend to be much more crudely-made. They were cheaper when they were new, & they're cheaper now.
That suits me just fine. I happen to be completely enchanted w/ these girls, lopsided features, worn paint, & all. I'm finding that I actually prefer the ones that aren't anywhere near mint condition... there's just something about an 80-100 year old doll that was obviously loved & played with, y'know? I like to imagine what she's been up to all this time.
So, yeah. I've since added 2 more Japanese all-bisques to my collection, & I'd love to get more.
And guess what? Sophie's silver hair is actually factory-painted! I *need* more silver-haired dolls, dammit!