June 11, 2023, Meeting

The theme of the June meeting was "Brides," and member Myrna Loesch provided this beautiful (and delicious) wedding cake for the refreshment table. 

Member Jan Irsfeld did a program on bridal fashion, with dolls from her collection of Madame Alexander Cissys modeling her beautiful hand-tailored bridal gowns. Jan explained that she keeps scrapbooks of pictures and articles from fashion magazines featuring outfits she finds beautiful or intriguing and uses these to inspire her own creations. Some of the dolls were dressed in outfits she had made for a 1987 Las Vegas exhibit of bridal fashions from around the world.

Queen Elizabeth the First of England stated that she could not wed because she was married to England.  Jan accordingly dressed Good Queen Bess as an Elizabethan bride.

This torso gown shows how a bride might have appeared in 1955.

These two dolls appeared in the Las Vegas display. They model bridal fashions from Africa and Japan.

This Cissy represents a French bride in floral lace finery.

The blond bride represents England while the belle with bare shoulders models Jan's interpretation of a 1992 bridal gown.

Two more international brides. The Spanish bride wears a black lace mantilla and a dress adorned with embroidered flowers. Next to her is a bride from Shanghai, who also holds the dress that she will don for the post-wedding reception.

This bride from Mexico is bedecked with bright ribbons.

The bride with the wide-tiered bodice models a version of a gown from 2015. The other Cissy wears a dress in the style of 1957.  Jan hand painted each flower on her wide lace skirt.

A bead-encrusted bridal gown made by Jan.

Members brought many examples of bride dolls to share.

Pam Hardy displayed two porcelain dolls that belong to her daughter. This doll portrays Sarah, the Duchess of York, at her marriage to Prince Andrew.

And this doll represents Princess Diana when she married Prince Charles.

Nancy Countryman brought examples of Madame Alexander brides, including this little Lissette,

and this much larger red-haired Elise.

A Kitty Collier bride by the Tonner Doll Company.

This porcelain doll designed by Suzanne Gibson represents Harriet Rebecca Lane Johnston, who acted as First Lady during the administration of her uncle, President James Buchanan.

Myrna shared this lovely reproduction French fashion doll made by former member Mary McKenzie and dressed by Jan in a bridal gown in the style of the 1870s to 1880s.

She also displayed this composition Madame Alexander Wendy Ann she had won at a recent luncheon with the Fort Worth doll club. The doll dates from the 1940s.

This Madame Alexander Cissette belongs to Sylvia McDonald, who told the club that the doll was given to her daughter in 1969 or 1970.

This Nancy Ann Storybook wedding party is from Sylvia's childhood.  She told the club that in the 1964 they were used as decorations in a relative's wedding and the bride and groom were redressed for that wedding.

Ann Meier displayed this wedding outfit her grandmother had made for her childhood Saucy Walker doll.

Jenell Howell brought this BJD elf adorned in a wedding dress from a Madame Alexander Elise.

Bette Birdsong shared this Gene doll dressed in bridal finery.

This antique Mold 1469 doll made by Simon and Halbig for Cuno and Otto Dressel wears belongs to Sharon Weintraub. She models a hand-sewn and beaded antique bridal gown from the 1920s.

These diminutive dolls also came from Sharon's collection. The center doll is a pink-tinted frozen Charlotte dressed in an antique lace bridal outfit. Sharon told the club that it was a tradition to dress a small doll in scraps of the bride's gown as a keepsake. The taller bride and groom are wedding cake decorations by Hertwig and Company of Germany. The small pair are also German cake decorations.

Two sets of antique all-bisque German bride and groom dolls in their original boxes. The large pair are from Hertwig while the miniatures in crocheted costumes are by Carl Horn.

 

Holiday Party, December 11, 2022

The club celebrated its annual holiday party at the beautiful home of member Jan Irsfeld, all decked out for the holidays.

Members shared not only a delicious pot luck lunch but dolls with links to the season. Sylvia McDonald brought this "Precious Moments" doll. She is from the series "Garden of Friends" and represents December.

Myrna Loesch set up this endearing tableau of two Alexander-kins dolls by Madame Alexander celebrating the holiday of Chanukah. 

Both dolls are from the international series and represent Israel. The earlier doll from the 1960s wears earrings as well as a Star of David necklace.

The later version has only the necklace.

Jenell Howell brought this delightful wooden Santa, beautifully hand carved by the husband of former member Ann Campbell.

Sharon Weintraub brought this crocheted miniature snowman she attributed to the German company of Carol Horn.

Also by Horn are these diminutive dolls, each only about 1.5 inches high. The bearded dolls at the ends Sharon said could represent either gnomes or the traditional Father Christmas and they each have a tiny metal lantern hanging by their sides.

Sharon also shared this all-bisque Kewpie doll in its original Christmas crepe paper costume.

Nancy Countryman brought these two well-loved dolls from her childhood.

Jam Irsfeld displayed this outstanding Cissy representing representing Madame 

Pompadour in the court of King Louis XV of France. Jan created the doll's lavish and ornate winter outfit.

Under her lush cloak, Madame's gown is elaborately adorned with intricate hand beading. Jan said it took her a year and a half to complete the dress.

Another creation by Jan is her interpretation of a Cissy trunk and trousseau once offered by FAO Schwarz.  Jan made the trunk out of wooden boxes.

 

September 12, 2021, Meeting

The Austin Doll Collectors Society had its first in-person meeting in over a year, congregating at member Sharon Weintraub's home. Sharon gave a program on Asian character dolls by German and French bisque doll makers. She explained that although the spice trade between Asia and Europe dates back thousands of years, by the 16th century European merchants, often with military support, had seized control of the trade routes, gaining a foothold in the East. The Chinese Qing dynasty losses to Britain and its European allies in the First (1839-42)  and Second Opium Wars (1856-1860) forced China to grant Western companies favorable trade concessions and concede territory to their control. In 1853 American Commodore Mathew Perry sailed into Tokyo harbor, beginning the re-establishment of trade and contact with Japanese, who had closed off their country to most foreigners in 1639. By the 1870s, these trading concessions had expanded into colonial control, with Britain, France, and the Netherlands claiming territories throughout Southeast Asia and the Indian subcontinent. The explosion in magazines and newspapers helped bring images and stories of Asian nations and people to the average European. Schoolchildren learned about their countries' colonies and their peoples. Advances in printing made colorful children’s books widely available and affordable and fanciful stories and characters from the East began to appear in the pages of children’s storybooks. All of the interest in the East inspired both French and German doll companies to create dolls representing Chinese, Japanese, Burmese, and other Asian peoples. In some cases, the dolls were little more than colorful stereotypes while other manufacturers strove for more ethnically correct features and clothing. 

The cheerful Asian infant doll belongs to member Jenell Howell. He is by J.D. Kestner and is on a ball-jointed toddler body, rather than the more typical bent limb baby body. Next to him is Mold 1329 by Simon and Halbig, dressed in an antique outfit of a Manchu noblewoman, including the unusual platform shoes.  

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Another Asian baby by Kestner, this time in a diminutive all-bisque version. He wears his original, but now fragile, silk outfit. His "slippers" were created by painting the soles of his bare feet black and gluing cord around the edges.

Two more Asian characters by Simon and Halbig. The smaller doll is all-bisque and dressed in an antique embroidered kimono.  She has molded blue slippers with upturned toes.  The other doll is Mold 1129 and is all original.

These 4.5-inch high charming cherubs are Chin-Chin Baby by Gebruder Heubach. Each carries the Heubach square mark faintly incised on the soles of the feet. Made to compete with the popular Kewpie doll, the Chin-Chin Babies came in a variety of headdresses. The girl in the center has her original paper tags.

Another Chin-Chin Baby in a bright orange and blue cap next to a Queue San Baby by Morimura Brothers of Japan.  The two dolls are often confused, as the Queue San is clearly a copy of the Chin-Chin. However the Queue San Baby is larger, with rougher bisque and with less distinct modeling.

All original, this beautiful baby is by Armand Marseille. Incised on the back of the head is the name "Ellar" inside of a six-pointed star. Marseille produced heads for other factories and distributors, but just who "Ellar" is remains a mystery. 

German companies produced a variety of all-bisque Asian dolls. The little lady is the crocheted blue kimono is by Carl Horn and is just 1.75 inches high, including her yarn wig. The minute man in the red cap is by Hertwig and Company. He has a painted dropping mustache and has a little yarn queue inserted in the back of his cap.

French doll makers also produced Asian dolls.  The largest doll is a bit of a mystery. He has a French fashion style shoulder head on a fully jointed twill-covered body with bisque lower arms and lower legs with bare feet. The clothing is old and fragile.  The two tiny dolls are Lilliputiens. Just 2.5 inches tall, these all-bisque dolls were available in a wide variety of costumes, including French regional and historical dress, storybook characters, and ethnic dolls. Like all Lilliputiens, they have swivel necks with a molded loop and painted features.  The pair wear their original costumes and the man has a braided queue inserted into the back of his bald pate.

Elaine Jackson brought her 1950s Kathe Kruse doll to share.