Martha, the Housekeeper: Clues to Dating Her

Doll dressed as housekeeper named “Martha.”

One of the more interesting dolls of Queen Victoria’s dolls is also the largest and one of the earliest woodens in the collection. Named “Martha” by the young princess and dressed by Baroness Louise Lehzen as a housekeeper in silk, lawn fabric and linen, she stands a large 8.66 inches tall (22 cm) and towers over the other dolls which average between six and seven inches tall.

Judging only by the features that I can see in the photo, I believe Martha to be an earlier Oberammergau doll created at the turn of the 19th century sometime between 1800-1820.

Let’s look at the clues.

Hand to the left is a typical Grodnertal carved hand of dolls from 1820-1840. The one to the right is much more detailed and carved prior to 1820.

HANDS:

The first clue to dating her begins with the carving of her hands. During the period of 1790-1820, in the Bavarian forests of Germany, in a small municipality called Oberammergau, professionally trained wood carvers were creating all kinds of wood carved items including some fabulous wood-jointed dolls. The dolls carved during this period are highly detailed and resemble the human form much more than those carved a little later by home wood carvers in the Grodner Tal forests.

If you notice the highly detailed carving of Martha’s hand, you can see that it more closely resembles a human hand with a separate thumb, individual fingers and even nail beds. Compare it to the simpler carved hands of Grodnertal dolls of a little later in the century, and you can see that this detailed carving is now missing.

Shape of Head of later Grodnertal to the left is more egg-shaped with a very large forehead. The Oberammergau doll to the right has a more rounded head with shorter forehead and features higher on the face. Oberammergau doll courtesy of Carol Cameron collection.

SHAPE OF HEAD & HAIR PAINTING:

The second clue is the overall shape of her head. The egg shaped heads with a large forehead and a small chin are all features of the Grodnertals made after 1820. The earlier Oberammergau dolls have more rounded heads more akin to real human heads and are painted with shorter hair in the typical Greek short hairstyle of the early Regency period.

Close- up of Martha shows a round head with short hair strokes framing the face, a typical hairstyle of the early Regency period.

This is the next doll in the collection that Charles is carving and I am dressing. She will be the same 6 3/4” size as Mr. Arnold and Lady Arnold.

The earlier carving poses a new challenge, one that Charles has taken on with enthusiasm!