My Collection Part Eighteen: Reproduction Depose Jumeau

I've mentioned a couple of times that I like antique Jumeau dolls, which were produced in France. In my mind I identify them with the early 1900s, although information I've found online says Depose Jumeau dolls in particular were produced around 1886-1889. However, Bébé Jumeau dolls were produced into the 1900s, and I think they look similar to my reproduction doll, so that's probably why my mind has always seen them as turn-of-the-century dolls. I've wanted a Jumeau doll for a very long time, but original antique dolls usually cost in the upper four figures, which is way beyond my budget. When I saw this reproduction Jumeau at the recent doll show I attended, for a very good price, I knew that she was meant for me. :)

Her head was made by doll artist Sylvia Butler in 2008. She is on a 10.5" composition body. I thought that meant that the body was 10.5 inches tall, but no, the whole doll measures around 10.5" tall. She is wearing a mohair wig and has glass eyes. She came with a pair of shoes, and a pattern to make her a slip, drawers, and stiffened stays like girls would have worn around that time. There is also some white fabric, narrow pink ribbon and some lace to make the items.

The slip/chemise that my doll is currently wearing was made by me from a pattern that I bought online. Lucky for me, this doll can wear the same patterns as the Bleuette doll, who started out as an Edwardian doll. Bleuette was associated with a French magazine for little girls called La Semaine de Suzette, or Suzette's Week. Bleuette dolls were available for little girls, and every edition of the magazine contained a new pattern for the doll. From February 1905 until at least January of 1960, new patterns were available for Bleuette. Some copies of the original patterns are available online due to the kindness of people scanning them in. The scans aren't generally precisely sized, however, so some other people have started with the magazine patterns, tailored them to the correct fit, and sell them. I think there are also Bleuette patterns people have drafted themselves. Anyway, there is a wealth of patterns available for my doll.

Here is the back of her head. It is marked "Depose Jumeau 3" which is the particular mold. Then on the side is inscribed "S Butler 2008." It looks like there is also a month, but I am not entirely sure what number it is. It looks like a 1, though.

She has holes for earrings, which was common for dolls of the time. There are lots of antique or antique-style earrings available to buy now. You can also see that she has a taped-on Styrofoam pate in the open spot on her head. Pate means "top of the head," and many antique dolls have a head with the top open like this. Cork pates were used at the time these dolls were first made.

Her body is strung, and doesn't always stand and pose just right. Of course, dolls of the time were never meant to be a fashion doll that stood and posed, just a doll for a girl to carry around or re-dress, or put to bed, etc. I just bought a new ring light for photography, so I thought I'd try it out with this post. Here's a picture of my doll taken with the three light modes that it has: cool, mixed and warm. Or maybe it's cool, warm and mixed?

Here is the back of her slip. It is more tightly gathered and has an extra ruffle to add fashionable fullness to the back. Oh, and this pattern is based on a La Semaine de Suzette set from 1906. The pattern also includes drawers and quilted stays. This slip is only pinned in the back because this is a basic muslin test piece that I made from the pattern. The modern pattern directions suggest you finish the neck and armholes with lace, or a rolled hem. Ooh boy, it's been about twenty years since I tried sewing a rolled hem by hand, and I wasn't too great at it back then.

I've also learned that if I want to I want to have the edges of one of these garments pinked, like you can see on her slip up above, I might want to use my vintage hand crank Singer Pinker. I am not too good with cutting out a longish straight line with my pinking shears alone.

Here's a closeup of her face, and pictures of her shoes.

The edges of one of the ribbon shoe-ties are fraying already. I need to get that taken care of. Her shoes are a bit big, but she is mean to wear stockings underneath. For anybody who has done sewing for an antique or antique repro doll like this, where did you find the material for stockings, and what type of material do you use?

What do you think of this dresser and chest with my doll?

They were made by Pleasant Company for their Angelina Ballerina doll line. I bought these pieces second-hand back in April of 2014! Now I need to make her a bed. I'm thinking of trying a Cricut pattern that I bought.

I am absolutely in love with this doll, and so happy that I found her. Now she needs a name! I want a name popular from the Edwardian era for her, but I also want it to be special, so I've been doing some thinking for sure!

What types of dolls do you like? Do you have or want any antiques, somewhat newer dolls like original Barbie dolls or Miss Revlon, or is it only modern for you?

Total dolls: 77

J-Doll Abbott Street Review

I've been holding off on buying any more J-Dolls, even though I had some on my wish list, because in my opinion, the retail price was just too high for the quality of the doll that you got. However, I was fortunate enough to read about sales at the online Groove Store that is in English and ships to the US. One of the sales Groove runs is a sample sale, which means dolls that were on display at conventions. The dolls usually don't come with a stand, and they may not have all their accessories. Supposedly Groove is very good about inventorying the sample dolls and letting you know what you're getting; there are no refunds. I ordered two dolls and it looks like both of the dolls came with all their accessories. The stands aren't that great, in my opinion, so I wasn't worried about getting one of those. I did end up not getting a stand with either doll. Shipping was also very minimalistic. This is how the box looked when I opened it.

When I pulled away the paper, the dolls were wrapped in plastic with their accessories loose. This is probably how they were transported to and from conventions.

Since I have a lot of great pictures of each doll, I'm going to review them one at a time. Today I'm reviewing the blond on the right. This J-Doll has the Type 4 body, and originally came out in 2010. She is named after Abbott Street, in Cairns, Queensland, Australia. Even after looking it up online, I can't really say much about Abbott Street. Some of it looks like a business area, some of it looks like residential, with gorgeous lines of trees on either side of the street. I didn't see many pictures of actual shops or housing.

So my girls needed names! I have named J-Dolls in the past, based on the streets they were supposed to represent. However, I just wasn't feeling Abby as a name for this doll. Since she's from Australia, I could have been somewhat cliche, and named her Sheila. I didn't feel like doing that either. I decided to name her after my favorite Aussie doll blogger, Rachael (only I changed the spelling; sorry Rachael!) So Rachel is her new name, unless the blogger Rachael objects!

Even though my first view of my new dolls was through plastic, I was reminded again of how delicate the faces of the J-Dolls are. Rachel also has shades of pale pinks and browns on her face, that come together really well with her hair and blue eyes. She's probably one of the prettiest J-Dolls I've bought yet.

Being from Australia, she of course has to have a hat. But Rachel seems to be a very girly girl, so she's put her own spin on it, adding a pink cameo on the front.

Some of her hair is held behind her head with a piece of off-white lace. I don't know how long that will stay on; it doesn't really seem to be firmly attached.

Her dress seems very boho, with her multi-tiered skirt. She has also decorated her dress with a belt and a chain, with circular and leaf-shaped charms on the chain. On her legs are lace knee-high stockings. She finishes her look off with what we in the US would call cowboy boots. Of course, she has also girlied the boots up by adding lace trim and applique.

As you can see in the middle pic directly above, she also has a jacket that she is wearing half on, half off. When I took pictures on the day with the Angelina Ballerina house background, I couldn't get the jacket on, because her right hand would not come off (and still won't!) However, I wanted to get some more pictures with better light, and this time, I managed to very carefully work the lace sleeve of the jacket over Rachel's right hand. With the left hand, it is far easier to do, as the fingers on her left hand are curled up. As is usual with J-Doll jackets in my experience, the jacket is very prettily detailed, but could have used a bit more material so you could see more of it from the front. Also, there is a loop in the threads woven through the top of her dress, where the thread got pulled. I'm going to have to try pulling the green thread straight, with tweezers.

And speaking of details, I really do like the details in her necklace, especially the fact that Groove used a lobster-claw fastener, which is rare in dolls Rachel's size. I also like all the lace and tiers in Rachel's skirt.

It seems, however, that the purse made absolutely no impression on me, since I only realized when I sat down to write this review, that I took no pictures of it at all! I didn't want to do a *third* photo shot with Rachel, so let me share this manufacturer photo, where the purse looks pretty much like what I got. Like her hat, the purse is made out of a kind of suede material, but Rachel has girlied it up with lace. Girlfriend really likes lace!

In the past, I've talked about my good fortune in getting J-Dolls that didn't have cracks in the plastic of their limbs. Well, my luck did not hold out here, although to be fair, these dolls were technically second-hand. I have no idea what previous handling these dolls had. Rachel's right arm has a crack near her shoulder joint.

When I went through my older J-Doll posts, I noticed that Abbott Street was on a wishlist I posted in 2015. Getting her in only two years isn't really that bad! I'm happy with the price that I paid for her, too. I've learned to enjoy these dolls for their beautiful faces, lovely inset eyes, and their poseability. The clothes and accessories can be hit or miss in terms of quality; I like most of what Rachel came with. Ironically, the boots are the sturdiest pair of J-Doll shoes that I've gotten to date, yet the lace on them makes the boots look a little off to me. Still, I am happy to have added her to my collection.

Back at Last: Angelina Ballerina Kitchen Sink and Stove, Plus Magnetic Room Backdrop

I can't believe it's been a month since I posted last! But between Mr. BTEG's gall bladder surgery, and a special human-size sewing project, I guess time went by faster than I thought. I'm so glad to be back to the world of doll blogging.

Way back in April of last year, I got a super deal on an eBay lot that included several pieces from the American Girl Angelina Ballerina line. For those of you who don't have girls who were/are the appropriate age, Angelina Ballerina is a small girl mouse in England who wants to grow up to become a ballerina. There were several books published about her adventures in her ballet classes, and with friends and family. Later a number of videos were created of her stories. I'm putting a link here to the other furniture pieces that I bought in that auction, and reviewed.

As of my latest posting about the set, I hadn't received the stove that was part of the auction, and so I wasn't enthused about taking pictures of the sink that I did get. At least a month after I received the first box, I got an email from the seller. Apparently her grandchildren had made off with the stove to play with it in the family room or something, and she had just found it! By the time I actually got the stove, I was on to posting about other things. However, I just recently bought the magnetic room set that was also part of Angelina Ballerina's line at AG, so here it all is.

Ann is ready to turn on the taps and do the washing up. (I picked up an English vibe during this.)

Posy brings her tea cup from the table for Ann to wash.

I forgot to take a picture of the two top doors open. Right side has shelves for cooking; left side shows a roaring fire.

The walls are magnetic, and there were over a dozen magnetic pieces with this set to decorate Angelina's house. I'll show a few.

I don't know why some of these pictures are crooked. I think I was trying to avoid glare here.

Ann stands at the window and looks out on the beautiful English countryside.

Here's a picture of Angelina and her parents celebrating the birth of her sister Polly.

As you may have noticed, there are two sides to the wall, with two different wallpapers. There are simple tabs in the floor that the walls go into, so it's easy to pull out the wall and change sides. The walls and the floor also fold up so they can take up less space put away. And lastly, there is a brick floor on the other side of the wooden floor. Once I took a picture of the kitchen with the brick, I thought it looked so much better.

 

Do you like using pre-made backdrops for dioramas, or do you like using your own? Do you even use dioramas?

Angelina Ballerina chairs

Here are two more Angelina Ballerina pieces that I received in my eBay purchase: the kitchen chairs. Considering that these were made for stuffed animals to sit on, I find they work quite well with dolls the appropriate height(s). I also don't think missing the table is a big issue. Tables are a lot easier to create than chairs, and Angelina's table doesn't seem to be as stand-out as the chairs.

First of all, however, I want to show a couple more pictures of the dresser and chest. jSarie suggested that the mirror might be throwing off how the Barbie size doll looked standing next to the dresser, so I got Snow back out and took a picture of her next to the pieces again.

Now I almost like her better next to the chest but am not so sure about the dresser! Ah well. These pieces seem to have a juvenile touch to them, with the painted on flowers, so I don't know that an adult Barbie size doll would get them anyway.

Since I had Tonner's 12" Alice in Wonderland doll out to take pictures seated on the chairs, I put her next to the dresser and chest as well. She's close to a Barbie in height, but Barbie is an adult in her world, while Alice is a tween in a world of 16" adults.

Alice is wearing a night dress from Tonner's Nutcracker Ballet line. Poor Alice is barefoot because while slippers did come with this nightdress (as well as a pretty robe), I need a dolly size shoehorn to get those shoes on her feet. Adams-Harris Patterns has a free pattern for a Marley (Alice) sized shoe that I really should try.

And now we return to the chairs. They are even more fancifully painted than the bedroom furniture, and almost have a shabby chic look since some of the paint has the appearance of wearing off.

Again, they're made of wood, and are nice and durable. They're a little broader than some other doll chairs of a similar height, but they ended up working pretty well with dolls the proportional sizes.

We'll start off with Alice and a Kripplebush Kid. (I really ought to give those poor Kids names.) Both look fine here. The Kid might have to scramble a bit to get up, but what little kid hasn't had to do that at some point?

The Kid also doesn't look badly standing next to the chair. Which makes me think that these chairs would also work for a similar doll like Kish's Riley. Some people have inserted Riley into Tonner's world to be the little girl, instead of the Kripplebush Kids.

I thought these chairs would be too broad for the Barbie sized dolls. Maybe for a Barbie in a bathing suit, they would be, but Snow with her wide skirt makes it look acceptable.

Lastly, I took a couple of pictures with Snow by herself with the chairs. I know many of you that read here have more Playscale sized dolls than Tonner sized ones.

Once again, these are two pieces which I am glad to have in my collection. I often prefer to have my dolls sit on chairs rather than be in stands, if I have the space, so the more chairs, the better!

Angelina Ballerina Dresser and Chest

My Angelina Ballerina furniture arrived today! Well, most of it did. I couldn't find the stove in the pile of newspaper that everything came wrapped up in. Still have to talk it over with the seller. But everything else is fantastic! I decided to stick to the wooden dresser and chest, because otherwise this post would be way too long. I'll highlight the other items in later posts.

The chest and dresser are very nice pieces, made of wood, with what I think is called fiberboard at the bottom of the drawers and the bottom of the chest. They also are marked on the bottom with HIT Entertainment (who owned the rights to Angelina Ballerina, at least the animated series) and American Girl, who distributed the stuffed dolls and furniture.

I forgot to take measurements! Let me know if you want a particular measurement. But you can get a pretty good feel for how big the pieces are by looking at the dolls I thought worked best with them. First up are some pictures of the dresser and chest by themselves.

A couple of the dresser drawers are very loose; the small drawer on the top right is very tight. You might be able to see how it fits a little crookedly into its slot.

There are some marks on the front of the chest. Nothing serious.

Because the chest used such thick pieces of wood, I feel like it looks a little funny on the inside, proportionally. But it's a very solid piece, which is the main thing.

First up to model is Disney's Snow White, by Mattel. As an aside, I realized while I was taking pictures that the dress Snow White is wearing is over ten years old! I got it in a dress swap, as a member of a doll board I don't even remember anymore. Actually, it might have even been an old-school bulletin board. Anyone else active on those back in the day?

She doesn't look too out of place here. The chest looks a little small proportional to her height, but the dresser isn't bad at all.

The mirror piece on top of the dresser is completely separate, giving it even more play value, as it can be moved around on top of the dresser or used by itself.

I wonder if this is a magic mirror?

 Next up is a J-Doll, Melanie.

Being more petite, I think she works better overall than Snow White. Possibly it might be a little too big for her, but I don't think so. She looks right sitting on the chest.

Lastly, we have my 8" Kripplebush Kid by Tonner. At the moment, I think she works with these pieces the best.

 

The mirror tilts (although it doesn't stay in a tilted position) so anyone could sneak a peek in it, but I like that this little girl can look right at the mirror.

I also had my Madeline and mini AG Samantha out, but the furniture completely overwhelmed them. So I think these are the ones in my collection who would work the best.

Obviously, with the flower decorations, these pieces are rather girly, so they're not for everyone's collection. Can you see GI Joe using these? :) But they're well made, real wood pieces that are going to look great in one of my doll's bedroom set. Which doll you think should get them?