The luxurious outfits, the beautiful hats, the doll hairstyles, typical to different epochs – all that brings joy and admiration not only among children but also among adult collectors. Moreover, these dolls develop artistic taste and interest in culture, traditions, and history, due to the variety of authentic costumes.
Collectible handmade porcelain dolls can become wonderful Russian souvenirs, interior decoration pieces, and parts of magnificent art collections.
There is an incredible variety of dolls that are collected today and collectors have nearly infinite ways of collecting and sorting dolls. But among all of them the most valuable is the Porcelain Doll. Their flawless features and strong resemblance to human skin made people all over the world fall in love with this doll instantly. Object of passion for so many collectors, Porcelain Dolls have an interesting history.
China mastered the art of creating porcelain two thousand years ago, but many of its manufacturing secrets arrived in Europe much later. For that reason the first dolls created in Europe from porcelain were called China Dolls. Between 1840 and 1880 the majority of the dolls was made in Germany from white glazed porcelain as this material could be transformed into any shape and easily re-created thousands of times. Initially sold as a fashion doll for wealthy children, the Porcelain Doll quickly grew popular near the end of the 19th century and became accessible to a wider range of families.
At the end of 19th century doll manufacturers in France and Germany began to use Bisque porcelain. Bisque, also known as biscuit, is a type of pottery that is fired as unglazed ceramic. The dolls however featured porcelain only on their heads, shoulders and hands. The bodies of the early Bisque Porcelain Dolls were usually made from wood, cloth, leather or papier-mâché. Bisque is said to have a more natural skin look than china. To further the likeness to the human form, manufacturers often used wigs made from human or goat hair to make the Porcelain Dolls seem more natural. They represented grown up women and men in modern (for the time) clothes. Later the majority of them switched to girls and boys as Porcelain Dolls were targeted at children. By the early 20th century, the United States and Japan began manufacturing Porcelain Dolls, as well. But as the century progressed the creation of Porcelain Dolls became more of a hobby, as the market demanded more realistic and less fragile dolls, so manufacturers focused mostly on dolls that could be used as toys.
After the Wold War II adults started slowly growing appreciation for the Porcelain Dolls models, culture, and history. Toy-makers started creating larger and elaborate models of bisque Porcelain Dolls using historical periods, culture, fashion, social scenes and famous people as inspiration. The collectors value fine detailing, high levels of craftsmanship and fashion style. Today, modern Porcelain Dolls are often created by artisans who handcraft each part, either producing very small editions of a certain doll or treating each doll as a custom project. But they are almost exclusively made for the collectors' market.
Take a look through our collection of Porcelain Dolls, each is beautifully crafted with exquisite detail, translucence and delicate features. You are sure to enjoy the unique selection of Porcelain Dolls, ranging from iconic people from history, like Napoleon doll, to Russian-themed dolls, fairytale characters dolls and so many more.
It's quite fascinating to have Matryoshka Dolls (also called nesting dolls, stacking dolls, and babushka dolls) as part of your Folk Art collection. You can order a beautiful Matryoshka from our online store: STPgoods.com