A wooden doll from the 1870's

 

This doll has arrived to get a previous restoration improved upon.

These jointed wood dolls were made in Springfield, Vermont in the 1870's and 80's.

This particular body style is often attributed to Mason & Taylor.

The doll's head and upper torso have been repainted over a gesso coat. The paint is thick with lots of brush strokes evident.

The head has odd contours.....was that the result of the gesso being used as a repair agent?

There is a gap in the neck with pink fabric stuck in it.

There are no carved hair details at the back.

And what is with the tacks sticking in her chest and top of her head?

Her hands are metal but are also covered in that thick repaint.

Her feet are metal too and thankfully were not covered in repaint.

That is their original blue colour.

The first step is to remove the tacks. They were doing nothing. maybe they once held some clothing on?

Then I try to strip off the thick overpaint and see what is underneath.

Solvent #1 tried.....nothing comes off.

Solvent #2 tried.....nothing again.

Before I resort to industrial strength strippers, I try mechanical removal....ie gentle scraping.

Scraping reveals some interesting things.

The doll still has original paint from the neck down.

The head, above the gap, has nothing original.

The head, in fact, is a crudely carved replacement.

The odd contours did not come from the gesso layer. They are the contours that the carver left her with.

After some more scraping, it is time for a beheading.

With further scraping the head will sit flush on the neck without a gap.

But, it is still a replacement head with contours that do not really match an original head.

The plan is to learn some wood carving techniques and do some carving to the current head so that it has a closer resemblance to an original one.

Here she is after a bit of carving and some paint on her head.

Further tweaking will be needed.

Her body will not be touched any further. It had the tack hole filled and painted but otherwise the surface is original.

Here she is with some face paint on....

She looks a little more like what she is supposed to?

She will never be an all original doll but still should be able to sit with her contemporaries without sticking out like the proverbial sore thumb.