Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Izannah's Elbows?




Izannah skillfully hid much of the connection points of her doll's jojints underneath the body covering. Those of us who are dollmakers are always wondering what's underneath that covering! Up until recently, I had always assumed that Izannah's dolls had no jointing at the elbows, and if there were joints, that's because the doll had been repaired. Jackie Hendricks asked Kathy Patterson in the previous post if her original doll is jointed at the elbows as she has made her Izannah reproduction doll's arms. The following three pictures are courtesy of Kathy Patterson, who sent pictures of her original doll's elbow joints below:



Picture courtesy Kathy Patterson





Picture courtesy Kathy Patterson





Picture courtesy Kathy Patterson

Of course we also don't know what has been done to some dolls which have been with us for well over 100, and sometimes 150 years. Below are elbow areas of dolls that I have taken or that I've been given permission to post. It's up to the reader to look carefully and decide is this how Izannah originally made the doll or has it been "helped".









If any of you collectors or museums have pictures of original joints, please share!

Monday, May 24, 2010

Kathy Patterson's Izannah Walker Reproduction Dolls


Reproduction Izannah Walker doll
by Kathy Patterson

This blog is focused specifically on original Izannah Walker dolls, not on reproduction or Izannah Walker inspired dolls. So why is this post about someone making Izannah Walker reproduction dolls?



Reproduction Izannah Walker doll by Kathy Patterson

Because Kathy Patterson, known for making wonderful wooden reproduction dolls, has purchased original Izannah Walker dolls and had molds made of the original Izannah Walker dolls' faces. She is using these molds to make copies of the original Izannah Walker dolls she has purchased. The mold-making process takes an impression of the original doll in its worn state, right down to the ridges of the stockinette in the original dolls and any wear spots on the face. After Kathy makes the head from the mold, she paints the copy of the head and shoulders so that it resembles the original doll. Kathy makes the bodies to closely follow the lines of the specific bodies she has purchased. I think it's big news in the Izannah world that someone has been able to do this. Of course, Kathy signs the works to distinguish them from original Izannah Walker dolls. To read more about Kathy's process, visit her site called Babes from the Woods.


Sunday, May 2, 2010

Pictures of Izannah Walker Dolls: Feet




For the Izannah Walker Workshop online class I've been giving, I put together an album of the feet of dolls that have been posted here on the Izannah Walker Chronicles. So I thought I would share the Feet Slideshow here as well. Enjoy!

A Pictorial Directory of Dolls<br> Featured on the Izannah Walker Chronicles

My mission for this blog in 2008 was to create the site I wished existed - a site for doll makers and collectors who love Izannah Walker dol...