Thursday, July 22, 2010

Izannah Walker Dolls

Some dolls are scary. There. I said it.
Come on, you know the ones I'm talking about. Those old, wooden dolls just have a creepy look to them. The porcelain and china dolls can be really frightening. I've always wondered what it was exactly that attracted people to collect them.
One day, while searching the web, I stumbled upon photos of Izannah Walker dolls. At first glance, these dolls are incredibly scary, in my opinion. Of course, they were made over a hundred years ago and those that have survived may not be in the best condition. They do not, I believe, actually have "short" hair, as I thought at first. I think their painted heads actually had been styled in some sort of a period hair style that had ringlets around the face, hair parted in the middle and probably swept up into some sort of a bun or twist. Now, this is just my best guess as a complete newcomer to the Izannah dolls. I am at once rather frightened by them and intrigued at the same time.
While I am working on a couple of long-term projects that I must keep under wraps for now, I think I'm going to try my hand at making a knitted/felted Izannah reproduction!
Here is a great place to learn a little about the dolls and the woman who invented them. Go here

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