Once there was a little doll. Her name
was Edith. She lived in a nice house and had everything she needed except
somebody to play with. She was lonely!
From The Lonely Doll by Dare Wright
My new exciting project is to make a doll for a Mum!
She used to read
to her daughter, my client, the story of Edith, The Lonely Doll.
Edith lived alone until Mr. Bear
and Little Bear moved in. One day Mr. Bear went out for a walk, in his return he found
that Edith and Little bear had rummaged in a closet for dress-up clothing,
smeared themselves with makeup and written "Mr. Bear is just a silly old
thing" in lipstick on the mirror. Mr Bear disciplined both, Little Bear
and Edith, leaving Edith to worry that he would take Little Bear away. However after Edith and Little Bear
apologized for their behavior, Mr. Bear assured Edith that they would never
leave.
I was quite surprised when I read
the story for there is a scene in which Mr. Bear spanks Edith for misbehaving.
The book was first published in 1957, then again in 1998 when a minor controversy
aroused due to this scene.
Dare Wright was the author and photographer of
the book. She used her own felt Lenci Doll from the 1920s for the photos,
sewing Edith's outfits and changing Edith’s eye color to blue resembling herself.
In 2007, R. John Wright produced
a limited edition felt Edith doll for collectors to celebrate the 50th
anniversary of The Lonely Doll.
Lenci Dolls
Lenci dolls are pressed felt
dolls with painted features, manufactured in Turin by Enrico and Elena Scavini from 1919 to 1944. Elena Scavini, her
nickname was Lenci, sewed and painted these bright and colourful dolls casting
off the drab grey life of the Victorian years.
The bodies and the clothing of Lenci
dolls are made of pressed woolen felt. The faces were pressed on moulds and
features were then hand painted, hair was made from mohair and this was
stitched in. The way the eyes were painted gave the dolls the expression of
loneliness.
There are some very good articles
on the web about Lenci Dolls though I would like to find more about how to
make them, especially the head.
My client knows the way I work
and she wants the doll for her mum to be inspired in Edith.
Do you know the story of The
Lonely Doll?
Have you got a Lenci doll?
Have you made a Lenci Doll?
It would be
fantastic to hear about it!
Warm wishes,
Yolanda
