Yesterday, the remaining Dol-Toi dolls belonging to Marion Osborne, were put up for sale on KT Miniatures website. Most are quite unusual and the majority of them are from the Dol-Toi Children Of All Nations range. Luckily I have Marion's Book Of Dol-Toi and accompanying disk of photos to instruct me on exactly which doll is which....as to be honest some of the costuming is quite obscure and so whacky that I initially had a little difficulty guessing which country they were supposed to represent...but it has been utterly delightful and great fun seeing these close up! I shall highlight a few of the more interesting ones on here. All those listed yesterday are the plastic head dolls, with wired frames and lead feet.
Three of the dolls newly listed yesterday are not part of the Children Of All Nations range.... the first being this little boy all dressed up in his riding gear, complete with whip! I have never handled a Dol-Toi doll dressed in riding gear before so I think we can say that it doesn't come along very often. The inside leg seams of his trousers need sticking back together plus jacket arm seams too but is not a problem, just needs a dash of glue. To be honest, this is such a common problem with these Dol-Toi dolls clothes plus you will find on some of the dolls, the old glue has left brown marks on the material too.
I have to admit, I have never set eyes on a Dol-Toi maid doll before either and didn't know there were Dol-Toi maid dolls....basically her dress is brown felt, the apron, cuffs and hat are lace.
When I saw this doll, I assumed he was a Cossack or something but nope, on checking with Marion's book, turns out he is Mr Noah. (Haha...once I knew who he was supposed to be, it seemed so obvious really). He would have come with Mrs Noah and an ark full of animals....but sadly, we just have Mr Noah himself. Not sure how he could fit into a dolls house but am sure with a bit of imagination he could!
"Children Of All Nations" Dol-Toi Dolls
The two dolls on the far right of this photo are believed to be in Russian costume - but quite what the two on the left of the photo are meant to be remains a mystery - even to Marion....I am assuming they are in some sort of ceremonial military uniform perhaps? It has been suggested that these too may be Russian? Quite a lot of detail has gone into their costume.
At least these are easy to identify.....
as the one on the far left has its original Dol-Toi label which says "Mexican Boy". Interestingly the two boys have different sized hats....the middle boy's hat is much bigger. The colours of these Mexican dolls are so bright and vibrant, they are just delightful.
I'm quite fond of these two....they are the little Dutch girl and boy.
And then there is this Chinese doll on the left and Greek boy on the right. The chinese doll has a very long pigtail that extends right down the back.
Just check out that Greek lad's costume....fantastic!
The little Scottish boy has lost his hat but still has his white fluffy sporran. The doll on the right is very obviously in Welsh costume.....her apron is fraying around the edges a little but other than that, is in great condition.
Here is the Spanish boy and girl.
My real favourite is this delightful Tyrolean boy in his lederhosen, which is embellished in some nice embroidered detail. His hat even has feathers and he is holding a stick.
And finally there is this Persian boy and girl dressed quite similar in style, their costume is actually quite attractive. The boy even has a tassle on his fez hat.
Admittedly some of these dolls from this Children Of All Nations range might perhaps look a little out of place in your normal vintage dolls house but they give you great scope to be imaginative in displaying them. Maybe you could place a whole number of these dolls in a deep picture frame, as shown in a recent blog - CLICK HERE. Or maybe create a special room box for them, or actually they could just be distant cousins of your existing dolls house residents...haha!
Please do go take a peek at all the other Dol-Toi, Figertoi and Tomac dolls within Marion's Collection that are still for sale, there are some very unusual dolls amongst them.
All these and many more can be found on the following page
PLEASE CLICK HERE
Thank you for stopping by.
Celia
