It all began with a restoration.

Charlie had been trained as a doll restoration artist, but had mostly been working on 19th century bisque and porcelain dolls and antique composition bodies over the years. Our dear friend, Barbara, brought a 4 inch Grodnertal which was missing its face and part of its hair and asked Charlie if he could give her little wooden survivor a face. Charlie had never worked on an early wooden doll before, so he dove into researching painting techniques to create an authentic recreation. When finished, Barbara and I marveled at his finished product. He had successfully recreated her old world charm and even given her an inquisitive personality!

I had been asking Charlie to make me a wooden doll for years as he is a talented and lifelong enthusiastic wood hobbyist. After seeing the restored Grodnertal, the idea was born. He could carve and recreate 19th century Grodnertals as there were not many wooden artists recreating dolls from this era. My mind was turning and I poured over examples I found in catalogs and on the internet to come up with the ideal one. So many lovely ones to choose from!

And then, it occurred to me as most ideas do, in the middle of the night while my mind was spinning with a hundred other distractions and to-do-lists for the next day - Queen Victoria’s dolls!!!

We planned to visit Queen Victoria’s collection once again at Kensington Palace before getting started, but, unfortunately, Covid changed those plans.

After selecting Lady Gertrude Arnold and Sir William Arnold as our first pair, Charlie got busy carving his first prototype. A year later, after finally arriving at a prototype we both liked, he began making them in groups of ten in order to be ready for our first unveiling of the dolls. The process was slow and arduous as each doll has a total of nine separate pieces with eight joints needing to be carved and fitted together accurately.

I began my intensive search for all natural fabrics that were just the right weight for such a small doll. My search ended in the city of Miami where there are specialty shops that carry imported fabrics. Another great resource was my own personal stash of antique fabrics which I had been collecting for over 15 years. Once fabrics were selected and prototypes were finished, our goal was to bring a small limited edition of 50 pairs to market in the summer of 2021 at the UFDC National Convention in Baltimore.

The long and exciting hours of carving and painting and sewing that lay ahead of us now began in earnest. And the deadline grew closer.