No. 32

Lady Olivia (S&H 1159)

German Antique Reproduction

Details

Artist: Shirley Lloyd (Canada)
Original: Simon & Halbig mold 1159 lady doll (Germany)
Mold: Seeley's (mold number to be confirmed)
Height: 64 cm

About this doll

A bride doll, 'Lady Olivia', in an ivory satin wedding gown with a long lace veil, a bouquet of red roses and a pearl necklace. She is the work of Shirley Lloyd, a reproduction from a Seeley's mold of Simon & Halbig's lady doll mold 1159; 'Lady Olivia' is the name given to this doll.

Her neatly dressed brown hair, slightly open mouth and the embroidered front of her fitted gown show great care, and at 64 cm she has a strong presence.

Background

Simon & Halbig's mold 1159 is a lady doll with the face of an adult woman rather than a child, known among collectors as the 'Gibson Girl' after the ideal modern woman drawn by the American illustrator Charles Dana Gibson in the early 1900s. It has an open mouth showing teeth, sleep eyes and a 'lady body' with slimmer, longer limbs than a child doll, a narrow waist and feet shaped for heeled shoes, and was made in several sizes from the late nineteenth century into the 1920s.

The wedding gown is among the most popular themes in porcelain doll costuming. Satin, lace, tulle and pearls all have to be handled at doll scale, and the veil and bouquet made as well, so the gown shows the maker's skill at a glance. Shirley Lloyd left several other lady dolls in this collection (Nos. 24, 25 and 26).

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