John Thayer, an Antique Izannah Walker Boy Doll to be Auctioned by Withington's

UPDATE John Thayer sold for a hammer price of $62,000. A buyer's premium of 15 - 18% would be added, depending on the method of payment. 

Carol Corson's doll collection is beyond amazing. I had about 4 hours to really study the Izannah Walker dolls, so I focused on Izannah dolls. I did turn my head a time or two and saw so many other rare dolls:  Schoenhut dolls, Lancaster Rag dolls, a tiny Chase doll, and many types I don't know much about. The catalog will be a fun one to study in detail! 

Today's pictures are of the famous John Thayer, an Izannah Walker doll painted and dressed as a boy in a fabulous plaid original outfit. This doll is featured on the cover of Antique Doll Collector in an article written by Carol Corson for Antique Doll Collector's August 2011 issue. The article Carol wrote catalogued the Doll Collector's of America's Izannah Walker Doll Reunion to celebrate DCA's 75th reunion.  That issue is worth purchasing to view the wonderful variety of Izannah Walker dolls featured.  It is available in digital format here:  https://issuu.com/store/publishers/antique-doll-collector/issues/08-2011

In the article, Carol Corson offers this description of John Thayer:

"15” boy, named John Thayer after his last of three generations of his original family. He is in his sewn on original dress with matching trousers. His side-parted hair is brushed to the right. He has high painted black boots with red shields at the top and gray painted soles. Walker dolls have down tilted feet and even the ones in super original condition have worn toes which may be caused by being carried by one arm with its toes dragging on the floor. Private Collection."

He is an exquisite and rare example of Izannah's work, clearly depicting a boy, dressed in a fabulous original plaid attire. I have only seen two Izannah Walker boy dolls in person, and this is the only example I've seen with a side-parted hairstyle. The buyer of this doll at the October 20, 2022 auction will be very lucky indeed! 

Be Still My Heart! FIVE Izannah Walker Dolls

 Withington's will be auctioning 

FIVE Izannah Walker dolls in October! 

Who could decide which one to buy?
Oh my! 

An Izannah with a Mona Lisa Smile Sold at Withington's

It was fun to see the Izannah Walker doll at Withington's doll auction in person, in addition to a Maggie Bessie doll, a Wellington doll and a bevy of adorable Martha Chase dolls. Here are some additional images of the Izannah Walker doll from Withington's auction. All of the dolls looked better in person than in images. Something about modern cameras accentuates texture which was lesser in person. This doll had a beautiful Mona Lisa type smile. This doll also had some breaks in the arms which were ladder stitched, and some missing cloth in th lower legs and feet so that stuffing was exposed. 

After some spirited bidding it narrowed to two phone bidders slowly advancing to $15,800 hammer price. Add to that a premium of 14-17% depending on method of payment. She does have a wonderful face! 

Withington's to Offer Izannah Walker Doll at Auction 6/16/22

Withington's has a number of cloth dolls which will be offered at their June auction, including this 16.5" Izannah Walker Doll. Also being offered are a Maggie Bessie doll and a Martha Wellington doll. 

Edited to add: This doll sold with a hammer price of $15,800. Add to that a 14-17% premium depending on method of payment. 

Hopestill Izannah Walker Reproduction Dolls Will Be Available Soon

In the past when people have made dolls taken from molds of Izannah Walker dolls I've written abou tit here. It's only right that I do that for my own work. I (Dixie Redmond) have been working on pressed cloth dolls taken from a mold of my antique Izannah Walker doll named Hope. These dolls will make up the Hopestill clan. 

I will be offering Hopestill dolls for purchase after they are completed, so if you are interested, follow along at my art blog Northdixie Designs 

If you want to be in the know about when Hopestill dolls are ready to find new homes, please follow this page. Even better, when you click on the follow button, you can have a choice to include this page in your "see first" options, that way you will not miss an update. 

I will be posting to my email list, on my Facebook business page, and here on my blog, when one of my Hopestill doll clan is ready. 

Kathy Duncan's Research: Advertisements of Miss Walker Dolls With 1881 Prices!

Good things come to those who wait! 

The internet is a constantly changing place, with information being uploaded all the time. Remember microfiche and the dizzy feeling you got looking at those? Many of those old newspaper archives have been digitized and are available online. 

Kathy Duncan has done some outstanding research and posted wonderful new information she found regarding Izannah Walker's doll sales. To find an advertisement with the price of an Izannah Walker doll is quite a discovery! This information is posted on her blog, Flimsiest and Frippery in a post entitled "Miss Izannah Walker's Celebrated Cloth Dolls", 

Kathy reveals that E. W. Billings acted as Izannah's agent in wholesaling her dolls. Click here to read her exciting post. There is a LOT more information about Izannah, E. W. Billings, and how this information suggests that perhaps Izannah's business was a larger operation than past information has provided. 

Ads describing a "Miss Walker" dolls in the Evening Bulletin of Rhode Island are shown below: 

This 1874 ad reads: 

The Everlasting Cloth Doll.

Tho Proprietor would inform

the trade that be is now pre-

pared to sell at wholesale

MISS WALKER'S

CELEBRATED CLOTH DOLLs

For which he has been agent for so many years

Please send your orders for the Holidays. Those

Who've left their orders at the store to be filled,

Will please call and make their selections at 

99 Westminster St., Butler Exchange. 

___ ___ ____ E. W. Billings 

Below ad from Thursday 15 Dec 1881, p. 1

WELCOME, SANTA CLAUS. - The fabled Kris

Kringle is pictured as bearing upon his back an

Enormous pack, filled with toys and playthings

For children of all ages and conditions, and every 

Year he stops at the store of E. W. Billings, in 

Butler Exchange, and purchases a large supply of

toys and fancy goods, including dolls of all sizes 

and peculiarities. He will lay in a stock of Miss

Walker's cloth dolls this season, their chief merit 

consisting in their ability to stand rough usage 

and abandonment serenely. 

Below is the ad from 1881 on p. 3. 

Listed by E. G. Billings

This ad reads: 

SANTA CLAUS

HEADQUARTERS

E. G. BILLINGS

Butler Exchange. 

Fancy

Goods, 

Toys, 

Dolls 

---

Games and Novelties

---

WHOLESALE AND RETAIL

At lower prices than elsewhere.

Agency for MISS WALKER'S

CLOTH DOLLS; reduced price

$3.75

Also, for DOLLS' DRESSES

And CLOAKS, which are now, 

beautiful and cheap. 

Again, be sure to visit Kathy's blog. Click here to read her exciting post which has a LOT of information in it.

Sweetbriar to Auction Three Izannah Walker Dolls in First Half of 2022

Going forward, posting about Izannah Walker dolls to be auctioned is dependent on people contacting me to let me know when dolls will be auctioned, or my seeing them in online postings. I used to be able to search the internet, but life doesn't allow for that as much now. Visit Sweetbriar to view their auctions. 

This doll, lot number 44, was auctioned February 5th. The ending price was $9800 plus 10% o 13%, depending on the method of payment by the buyer. 

This doll, lot number 44, was auctioned February 5th, 2022.
The ending price was $9800 plus 10% o 13%,
depending on the method of payment by the buyer. 

On April 9, 2022, Sweetbriar will offer two Izannah Walker dolls at auction. The first doll is 17" tall and wears a copy of an original costume. To me, this Izannah has a folk-y feel to her. 

The second doll to be auctioned on April 9th is a large Izannah Walker doll measuring 25" tall. 

It would be fun to be able to see the two dolls to be auctioned on April 9th side by side! 

RESULTS From April 9th auction: 

The 17” doll  sold for $9800 plus 10% or 13%, depending on form of payment. 

The 25” doll sold for $11,100 plus 10% or 13%, depending on form of payment. 

Izannah Walker Doll on EBay

An Izannah Walker doll has been listed on EBay, listed at $14,500. The doll is 16" tall. I love seeing Izannah Walker dolls in any condition, and this will be a fun auction to watch. I would love to see this doll in person, and see the condition of the doll's body. 

Happy Birthday to Izannah!

Izannah's birthday is September 25th, but I'm going to host this celebratory sale from now until the end of the month. My Izannah Walker Doll Pattern is on sale for 50% off through September 30th to honor Izannah Walker's birthday. So if you have been waiting to buy this pattern, now is the time. Hop on over to Etsy while it's on your mind! I made the doll in the photo below using my pattern.  

Dixie Redmond's Izannah Walker Doll Pattern 

I am proud of the many artists who started their doll-making journey with this pattern and the many dolls made all over the world using this pattern. It is STILL fun to see the wonderful creations people make. 

Three Years of Comments! Oh My!

 I'm not sure what happened, but I went in to do a check on settings on this blog and found three years of comments which needing moderating. I was starting to get some very spammy comments on this blog, so I set it up to moderate all comments.  Oh my! 

So if your comment was stuck in moderation mode, I apologize. You are good people with interesting things to say. 🌟 

Izannah Walker Doll to be Sold at Theriault's May 15th

On Saturday, May 15, 2021 at 11:00 AM  Eastern Time, this wonderful Izannah Walker doll will be auctioned as lot #64 in the "And The the Page Turns" Marquis auction with an opening bid of $11,000. 

The description of the doll is as follows: 

20" (51 cm.) Cloth doll with pressed and oil-painted complexion and facial features, center-parted hair with two shaded ringlet curls in front of each stitch-shaped ear, and then forming into ringlet curls that tumble onto her nape, outlined brown eyes, lightly stroked brows, rounded nose, closed mouth, firmly stuffed body with stitch jointing at shoulders, elbows, hips and knees, defined applied thumbs, oil-painted hands and lower legs, antique costume and undergarments. Condition: original painted finish is well-preserved with slight typical craquelure, nose rub, finish on hands worn. Comments: circa 1865, Izannah Walker, the Pawtucket, Rhode Island, doll creator who obtained a patent for her dolls in 1873, but likely had been making them previously for some time. Her patent described her purpose was to create a doll that is "easily kept clean and not apt to injure a young child which may fall upon it. It will preserve its appearance for a long time." Value Points: the rarest style of coiffure for this model with artistically-painted shaded ringlet curls, seldom found larger size.