English doll

Small (4" tall) seated plastic sleepy-eye doll with English lacemaking equipment. She is tied onto a wooden chair which has a padded seat and back. Condition is excellent.

A surprisingly nice piece. All the lace on her hand-sewn gown is handmade, and the piece on thepillow appears to be handmade halfstitch. There's a pin cushion on the pillow, along with 8 spangled midlands bobbins. Unfortunately the overall effect is sloppy, the doll is a bit too small for the pillow and doesn't sit properly on the chair. The round pillow is more typical of Belgian work than English, but not unknown. The cloth under the pillow is poorly made. It looks to be a marriage between two quite nice pieces, a small doll with a separate pillow.

first posted 3/19/2009