No. 18

April the Flirt

German Antique Reproduction

Details

Artist

Shirley Lloyd (Canada), initials S.E.L.

Original

Kammer & Reinhardt (Germany), flirty-eyed model

Mold

Seeley's

Made at

Joyce Murch seminar

Height

60 cm

About this doll

'April the Flirt' wears a ruffled white lace bonnet and a pale pink dress, with brown hair and dark eyes. Shirley Lloyd made her from a Seeley's mold as a reproduction of a Kammer & Reinhardt antique, and the back of her head is incised 'SEL'.

The name 'Flirt' comes from the original's 'flirty eyes', which glance from side to side. Whether this reproduction's eyes actually move is being checked; if not, they were set looking to the side to keep the original's expression. The doll was made at a seminar given by Joyce Murch.

Shirley Lloyd was the mother of the Canadian porcelain doll artist Lynn Harrison; she made dolls to the age of 100 and passed away a few years ago in December. Several of her dolls are in this collection (Nos. 21, 22, 24, 25, 26 and 32).

Background

Flirty eyes add to the sleep-eye mechanism a sideways movement: when the head is tilted the eyes roll from side to side, giving the doll a coquettish glance. Kammer & Reinhardt used such eyes on several models, including the 117N 'Mein Neuer Liebling' of around 1916, and they were very popular on German dolls of the 1910s and 20s. The original of this doll is a different model from the 117N; its mold number is to be confirmed.

On a reproduction doll the artist's initials are both a signature and a mark of honesty. They are incised, with the year, on the back of the head while the piece is still unfired greenware; antique dolls carry no such personal signature, so the initials alone identify a reproduction.

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