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General notes
(See guidelines
for doll making in article #1 published in Volume 2/ Issue 3)
For this article, I have designed
some special, original dolls that have historical precedence.
I have introduced more doll terminology, and two simple jointing
methods: a "floppy joint" and an "elasticized
butt joint".
Reminder: A
wood doll is one with a wood head irregardless of any other
materials used in the rest of the doll. I use the United Federation
of Doll Clubs (UFDC) standard for categorizing and grouping dolls
by the material from which the doll head is made.
The use of glue is very important in doll making,
but you must learn to use it wisely and neatly! Use the best
quality, appropriate glue and use the MINIMUM amount in each
application. Nothing ruins a doll faster than improperly
applied glue. I hate to see blobs of glue, streaks of hot glue,
and fabric permanently soiled with glue spoiling potentially
good dolls. These all scream "amateur" or
worse, "craft mall quality"!
When
costuming dolls, you must use the best quality, natural materials
in the appropriate scale. Using modern chemical-based materials
will degrade the perceived quality of your work, and those dolls
dressed in these modern materials are less desirable. Dolls dressed
in clothing made from modern, synthetic, or man-made materials
are generally avoided by most serious doll collectors. Knowledgeable
collectors have a legitimate concern that the chemicals will
break down over time and adversely effect other near-by collectibles.
Using an "appropriate scale" is
very important in doll design. This term means to use fabric,
and accessories that look correct and are in proportion to the
size of the doll. Fabric must be light weight and flow softly
enough to drape appropriately. Any obvious weave or decorative
pattern in the cloth must be small and tight enough to look right.
Also the materials used for wig making must be in the correct
proportion. For example: human hair is far too coarse for most
doll wigs where fine mohair would be a good substitute. Yet fine
mohair maybe too coarse for the very smallest dolls, when ultra
thin viscose fibers or the finest silk threads should be used.
Simple Dolls - Twig Doll, Frozen Doll, and
Frozen Leg Doll
For this issue,
I have designed and drafted patterns for several simple frozen
dolls. These types of dolls have been made for hundreds of years.
A "frozen doll" is a one-piece doll that has
detailed, unmoving arms and legs while a "Frozen leg
doll" has moving arms and detailed, unmoving legs. A
"Twig Doll" is even simpler than a frozen leg
doll, since the lower half is one piece and not sculpted at all.
Non-jointed, one-piece dolls may seem strange to
us in the west, but many other countries are known for their
traditional, one-piece, wooden dolls: Russian slash carved dolls,
African figures, Japanese gosho ningyo, and many others. You
can see some of these illustrated on the
Lotz
Doll Pages. The
National Gallery web site has an interesting on-line exhibit
featuring illustrations from the museum collection that were
published as the book, "The Index Of American Design".
These objects detailed in this book included folk art, wood carvings,
toys and dolls. The book's illustrations, which have been posted
on the Internet, provide a display of some of this museum's collection
which are generally not available to public view. The illustrations
themselves are well done, and are described in the text as valued
works of art in themselves. I found an example of a fine antique
wooden one-piece doll while browsing the "Woodcarving
from the Index of American Design" web pages, and woodcarvers
might be interested in browsing all of the pages of this exhibit.
There are also many other more-complex, wooden dolls to be seen
within the pages of "Dolls from the Index of American Design".
Click on the links below:
A common example of a simple frozen folk doll is a "spoon doll" where the back of a wooden spoon is painted, carved, or wood burned to represent a face, and the very simplest arms and clothes are added. This type of doll was described and highly recommended as a easy craft project in the US Girl Scout manual for many years.(see another article about spoon dolls decorated with pyrography in this issue of the Woodc@arvers Ezine) {LINK NEEDED}
 Traditional Twig Doll with a detailed head and torso Designed by Jean D. Lotz |
"Twig Dolls" are traditional "folk dolls" from many parts of the world, which are whittled from twigs or dowels. A twig doll is also a crude form of a "frozen leg doll". These lady dolls are meant to wear long gowns hiding everything below the waist, so the legs are not detailed at all. The lower half of this type of doll is often left in a rough state, perhaps with just the bark quickly removed. A round base of wood is provided as a doll stand which can be either permanently attached to the bottom of the doll with screws and glue, or the base can be drilled with a tight-fitting hole to firmly hold the standing, removable doll. The size of the base should be big enough to firmly support the doll yet discrete, so it is NOT VISIBLE when the doll is dressed. The upper part of the doll is typically very SIMPLY carved and nicely painted. But the head and upper body can be detailed to any degree that you want. I have designed and drafted a twig doll which will allow more torso and head detail. This doll has a detailed, bald head. (I will not go into wig techniques here). You can modify the drawings to allow enough wood for carved hair and small hats if you want. |
Note the traditional
twig doll arms are simple. I call this type "floppy joints".
The arms are loose and uncontrollable. They are made with just
a small piece of an appropriate sized rope or cotton rag threaded
through a hole which is drilled in the body. A tiny bit of glue
firmly holds the rope or rag in place just at the opening of each
shoulder hole. The hands can be as simple as a knot tied in the
end, a small wood bead glued to the end, or a set of carved hands
can be attached.
A thin, firm wire can be threaded through the rope arms to allow the arms to be posed, but care must be taken that no wire can ever be exposed. (Please review the safety guidelines for making toys and dolls for children in article #1 published in Volume 2/ Issue 3).
Of course this doll can have much more sophisticated arms. But I am NOT able to go into a further discussion of "wire-wrapped armature construction" or details of elaborate joints in this article but these subjects may be addressed in the Lotz Doll Making Web Pages in the future.
This simple doll could easily be made into a popular "peddler doll", which is a doll dressed as an old fashioned street peddler carrying a basket. The empty basket is filled by the collector over time with appropriately scaled miniatures. A peddler is a fun type of doll to own since the collector can continue to personalize their doll with each new accessory.
These fashion dolls would be especially desirable if they were made to be a 5-1/2 inch "doll house doll" which is the perfect height to represent a 5'-6" lady for a "standard scale" doll house. The standard scale uses a 1/12 reduction ratio where 1" = 12" (1" = 1'). More about doll house dolls and what the word "scale" really means is planned to be explained further in the Lotz Doll Making Web Pages.
"Fashion dolls" are those that are intended to showcase clothing. It might seem strange to see a fashion doll without legs like this twig doll, but a great many fabulous, early, fashion dolls were made without legs. If the doll's purpose is to display a long robe or a long formal gown then there really isn't a visual need for legs. One could achieve the effect of a grand lady standing in her long gown by mounting the upper torso onto the top of a "cage". Early "Leg-less Fashion Dolls and Religious Figures" were mounted on top of wooden cages, but later the easier to make, wire cages became more popular. A cage not only provides a firm stand, but it also encourages the correct drape of the costume that the doll was sculpted to display. Leg-less dolls mounted in this manner are called "cage dolls". I would love to show you some photos of some very early, stunningly beautiful cage dolls, but sorry - I don't have permission to post any photos of this type of antique wood dolls yet! A modern example of a cage doll would be a Christmas tree-top angel mounted on a cone.
When speaking of
a "frozen doll", most people would think of a little,
antique, china doll that is commonly referred to as "Frozen
Charlotte" (female) or "Frozen Charlie" (male).
Antique frozen dolls were made out of a variety of materials:
rubber, porcelain, china, wood, etc. One-piece, non-moveable dolls
are still made today. The arms and legs are either sculpted with
no space between the body, or they can be sculpted so the arms
and/or legs extend away from the body.
Frozen
dolls with non-extended arms and legs do not require any sewing.
This type of doll is either sculpted as a nude to be wrapped in
a small blanket. Clothing can be sculpted, painted, or wrapped
with cloth glued in place (like a Japanese
Kamo ningyo). If the non-jointed arms and/or legs are extended
from the body, then the doll can be costumed.
JOINTED ARMS ON A FROZEN
LEG DOLL
For this issue, I have
also designed and drafted a frozen leg doll with independently
moving arms. This doll construction uses a simple "elasticized
butt joint". The parts butt together and they are held
in place by a piece of elastic that is threaded through the body
and knotted on the outside of each arm. The elastic is just pulled
tight enough to hold the arms up, but not so tight as to stress
the elastic. Each knot is locked by lightly gluing it and pulling
it tight. Trim the excess elastic away only after the glue has
had time to dry thoroughly. This external knot looks a bit better
if you countersink the outer arm hole so as to hide some of the
knot's bulk in the cup-shaped depression that is formed.
The elastic that I use is a special, round, doll
elastic sold by many doll supply stores. It is stronger and stays
in good shape longer than the elastic that is available in sewing
stores. I use the Seeley
brand of doll elastic. I buy mine from WESTBANK DOLL SUPPLY
in Louisiana (1-800-374-3655). If you can't find the doll elastic
locally, then call them since they can ship all over the world.
Just tell them the size of the doll that you are making and they
will make their best, educated guess at the size elastic that
you will need. There might be a minimum yardage requirement.
Perhaps you will be required to buy at least 5 yards of elastic,
but this can provide inspiration to carve more dolls with this
type of joint.
AN INTRODUCTION
TO STORY BOOK DOLLS
A "Story
Book Doll" and "Fairy Tale Doll" is any doll
that is designed or dressed to represent a character in a written
story. Written fairy tales and favorite children's books offer
a wealth of popular subject matter.
The
Lotz Of Wooden Head Doll Designs for this article can
be dressed as many different story book characters. The young
girl doll can be dressed as "Mary Had A Little Lamb",
"Little Red Riding Hood", or as other child characters.
You could also make a set of boy and girl dolls and dress them
as Hansel and Gretel.
The lady twig
doll can be dressed to represent any character, male or female,
that traditionally wears long robes or dresses. For example it
can be costumed as "Victorian Christmas Carolers",
"Little Women", "Snow White", "Cinderella"
or "Rapunzel.".
A
large part of the charm of dressed dolls comes from the care
and creativity of the costume maker. Do NOT let a lack
of sewing or wig making skills deter you from carving a doll.
Many doll collectors would gladly have a well carved doll to
dress themselves.
Important:
Please sign and date your dolls. Write your full name and the
date the doll was made with indelible ink or with a wood burning
tool on the back.
Now it's time to use your imagination
and start carving simple, wooden dolls!
Jean D. Lotz, sculptor/designer/woodcarver/doll artist LOTZ STUDIO (lotz@communique.net) P.O. Box 1308, Lacombe, LA 70445-1308, USA LOTZ STUDIO WEB PAGE LOTZ DOLL PAGES (wood dolls: antique, contemporary, HITTY, etc)