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Office Cleaning Calgary – What to Look for in a Good Cleaning Company
In the office world, there is a constant need for excellence when it comes to hygiene standards and not just because every company is at constant risk of a surprise lawsuit by one of its employees. These days, the health and safety guys can sweep into your office at a moment’s notice and should they… [read more]
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Finding the Right Digital Camera
Are you ready to get your digital photography journey started? The first thing you have to take care of when trying to get started with your wedding photography journey started is getting the right camera. There are a number of different cameras on the market and choosing the right one will take some time and… [read more]
The post Finding the Right Digital Camera appeared first on Our Ordinary Life.
How to Reduce the Damage Done to a Car Windshield
Owning a car is not an easy job and can come with a good deal of stress. There are so many things that a car owner has to worry about in regards to maintenance and repairs. One of the most important, but commonly neglected parts of any car is the windshield. Just like any other… [read more]
The post How to Reduce the Damage Done to a Car Windshield appeared first on Our Ordinary Life.
Spirograph from Kenner (1971)
A mashup of educational toy, creative design tool, mathematics lesson, arts-and-crafts project, Spirograph was first marketed in the UK and migrated stateside in 1966.
For more stories behind some of your favorite toys visit Toy Tales.
Shell Dolls - Who Knew The Victorians Did This? Did You?
I've heard of sea shells being used to create elaborate pieces of art for hundreds of years - like sailors valentines but had never heard of shells being used to create outfits for dolls? Have you? Well, it turns out it was a very popular craft during the Victorian Era.
I may not have been aware of this doll crafting method, but was really intrigued when I saw pictures of a few of the shell costume dolls from the 19th century like the "Small Early Shell Doll Holding a Dog" doll pictured above from the Skinner Inc. Auctions website.
Her Description is as follows: Small Early Shell Doll Holding a Dog, Continental, probably early 19th century, wax shoulder head with with painted features (one shell eye remains), fabric hat over cotton wool wig, the woman wearing a long draped dress totally covered in tiny brown seeds or shells with white apron covered in petal-shaped slivers of mother-of-pearl, standing on a shell-covered base, holding a small shell-covered spaniel-type dog, (minimal shell loss), ht. 7; housed in an oblong footed wooden-based tapered glass dome, overall 5 x 10 x 12 in.
Since I literally had never heard of dolls and their outfits being made from tiny shells I had to find out more about these very unusual dolls. Here's what I found:
According to Wikipedia.com, "Shellcraft, also known as shell craft, is the craft of making decorative objects, or of decorating surfaces, using seashells. The craft includes the design and creation of small items such as shell jewelry and figurines made from shells; middle-sized objects such as boxes and mirror frames covered in shells; sailor's valentines; and larger constructions including mosaics and shell grottos."
The following excerpt is a blog post post entitled Victorian Shell Art from the Disenchanted & Co. Blog: "Shell art became hugely popular during the Victorian era, when it was fashionable to decorate picture frames, embellish boxes and vases, and create grottoes. Ladies would collect shells, dip the back side of them in hot wax and attach them in artful designs to whatever they were decorating. Her Majesty Queen Victoria was also very fond of shell art, which she often commissioned to make portraits and gifts for her favorites at court. A shell art portrait of King Dick, one of her favorite dogs, reportedly still hangs in Buckingham Palace."
According to a Shellcraft article on The Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland: In the 18th and early 19th centuries fashionable ladies of artistic inclination collected shells and housed their collections in cabinets fitted with small drawers or wooden chests with compartmentalised trays.
Objects such as birds, animals and human figures have been made out of shells from the earliest days of shellcraft and it is a theme in shell work which has persisted to the present day. Some early examples were wooden dolls which were clothed in garments composed entirely of shells. Often these fine examples of shellcraft are displayed inside glass domes.
According to the strong Museum of Play World travelers of the 19th century often purchased shell dolls as mementos of the seaside resorts they visited. Local artisans used tiny native seashells to make costumes, some of which represented local or folk clothing. The artisans often used ready-made wooden figures, called "penny woodens" and mass produced in Germany, for their souvenir shell dolls. Other shell dolls made use of tiny papier mache dolls also available from Germany and in sizes ranging from about one inch to two or three feet tall. Shell artisans worked mosaic patterns of color and texture into the shell "clothing" they made for their souvenirs.
According to them shell collecting first appealed to the wealthy European ladies who could afford the exotic shells. When traveling and commerce made the shells more affordable the middle class ladies took up this craft as well.
Victorian women decorated all sorts of items with seashells. Items like trinket boxes, picture frames, mirrors, dolls, dressers, dollhouse furniture, etc. In fact, some of the more popular magazines of the times, like "godey's Lady's Book" offered how-to's for creating shell art with shell dolls becoming a fashionable display in their parlors.
According to The Doll Book page 206-207 written in 1908 by Laura B. Starr under the Homemade Dolls chapter the shell work of her grandmother's day was being revived in 1908.
According to Laura: In the early Victorian period it was the fashion for visitors at the seashore to gather shells of different sizes and fix them with glue on frames and boxes and flat surfaces.
An enterprising Irish lady, who saw in a Guernsey cottage doll dressed in garments of shell more than a hundred years ago, conceived the idea of making modern dolls of shells and succeeded so well that she has a large variety of them.
She then went on to explain how to make a shell doll on Page 207. If you'd like to read what she said please CLICK HERE and then scroll to page 207.
Here's a few of the shell dolls I found, some for sale on auction websites and others in museum collections:
I found the doll pictured above on the Carmel Doll Shop website and think she is one of the prettiest shells dolls I've seen so far. Just look at her beautiful outfit. Just stunning.
Her description is as follows: Shell Doll wearing a wonderful stylish "dress" of the 1840 era. A lovely Grodnertal Wooden also wears a delightful hat to top off her stunning ensemble, there are a few missing shells to the reverse.She stands a sweet seven inches tall.
Skinner Inc. Auction Description: Pair of Papier Mache Shell Dolls, Germany, early 19th century, molded and painted features, blue eyes (light wear and soil), black painted hair, carved wooden hands exposed, rest of body covered in small shells in decorative pattern, woman with arm raised, aubergine and ivory colored shells, man with primarily blue-toned shells (some shell loss), doll ht. 6 1/2 - 7 in., in round dome with footed wooden base, glass diameter 6 in., overall ht. 12 in.
Skinner Inc. Auction Description: Pair of Small Early Grodnertal Shell Dolls, Continental, c. 1830, peg-wooden dolls, both with molded and painted hair and features, cardboard-formed skirt totally encrusted in tiny shells, decorated with larger shells, woman wearing a large poke bonnet, man with broad-brimmed hat, trousers, and frock coat, dolls ht. 4 1/2; housed in round glass dome, overall ht. 8 in.
Skinner Inc. Auction Description: Swinging Grodnertal Shell Doll, Continental, c. 1835, peg-wooden doll with painted features and carved ringlets, kicking legs portraying motion, in shell-adorned summer dress and bonnet, seated in a vine swing with outstretched arms grasping shell-flower tendrils (minor shell loss), doll approx. ht. 4, housed in tall round glass dome, overall ht. 14 in.
Skinner Inc. Auction Description: c. 1830s, long Lydia-type hairstyle, blue eyes, articulated wooden body (missing lower arms), dressed in shell-encrusted gown, ht. 5 in.
The Cobbs Auction website Description: 19th Century Pair of Figural Shell Dolls, depicting a male and female, each beautifully decorated with an intricate mosaic of shells in vibrant colors, male is 9 1/4" tall, female is 9 1/2", minor losses and crazing, male with both arms cracked. Shell dolls were popular in the early to mid 19th century in France and Germany where they were made and sold at local seashore resorts.
Live Auctioneer website Description: Germany, papier mache shoulder head dolls with wooden jointed bodies, molded black hair with painted features, shell pattern resembles multi-color textured fabric, larger doll retains original shell head dress. Size: tallest 7" Condition - good to very good (smallest doll is missing hat and some shells)
I would like to make a shell doll sometime. Before I can I need to research where I can buy lots and lots of tiny shells in various shapes, colors, and sizes. Any ideas?
Watering Can
round about: eyeball glasses & galaxy shades
Spring break. Who’s bright idea was that anyway? In theory, I suppose it’s pretty awesome. But not so much for the parents who get to stay home all week with the kiddos? If you’re in college, hey, more power to you. Go find your way south and have a blast. That was never my idea […]
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Toy Chest: Mean Girls Edition
Mean Girls toys are on the way in from Funko and 7 other things I wanted to share this week.
For more stories behind some of your favorite toys visit Toy Tales.
TAG’s Blueberry Lurkfoot Lottery
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The 6th Prince
Kraang Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Out of the Shadows Movie Figure Video Review & Images
set database: LEGO 41556 tiketz
set number: 41556
set name: tiketz
theme: mixels
year: 2016
pieces: 62
price: us$5
minifig: none
new mixels theme.
come with a poseable mixel character.
the character is tiketz.
good playability.
overall design is good.
1/6th scale Victor Frankenstein – Prometheus
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3 Lifesaving Smoothie Recipes for Your Nutribullet
Many of us have got a highly underused Nutribullet sitting somewhere in a kitchen cupboard. Don’t forget there are some great ideas and recipes for this appliance. Most are simple to create on a daily basis. Not only will you feel better for making use of an underutilized appliance, your wellbeing can see added benefits. … [read more]
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