Meeting My 31-Inch Antique German Doll

Probably everyone who begins collecting antique dolls dreams of owning a large doll. I certainly did, and here she is: my beautiful big doll. She stands 31 inches tall and wears children’s clothing and shoes. She has a human-hair wig with soft, curly waves, and her hands still retain all of their fingers.

At first glance, I could see that her eyes needed to be replaced. The vintage plastic eyes were not appropriate for a doll of her period, so I wanted to give her eyes that would better suit her antique character.

Let’s take a closer look at the doll. She arrived wearing beautiful vintage children’s underwear made from natural cotton, decorated with ribbons, and circular buttons. Everything was charming, but the garments were not properly sized for her.

As you may notice, the neck opening of the body was also not the right size for this bisque porcelain head. Her feet needed a little attention from the doll doctor as well, so I had plenty of work ahead of me. Any patient who comes to live in my doll hospital deserves to look her best.

In my archives, I found several photographs from the process of restoring this lovely girl with large brown glass eyes. Finding appropriately sized antique-style eyes turned out to be both expensive and time-consuming, so I selected the best available pair from my workshop stock.

That year, I worked on the terrace with many dolls at once. I hoped that restoring several dolls simultaneously would save time, but it was not the best idea. Instead of taking only a few weeks, this restoration took several months.

When it was time to sew her clothing, the dolls and I moved downstairs to the workshop. There, I altered the vintage underwear to fit her properly, replaced the modern ribbons with vintage ones, and sewed stockings from an antique pattern.

Then we tried on her restored and freshly cleaned wig. Doll seemed very pleased with the result.

Her restoration included new brown glass sleep eyes with real braided eyelashes, a cork pate, a body with a correctly sized neck opening, and new elastic installed using the proper stringing pattern. These are only some of the changes that may not be immediately visible in the photographs.

The changes to her costume are easier to see. The children’s dress was carefully altered to fit the doll, while its authentic vintage details were preserved. I added a few subtle elements to refresh her appearance without losing the character of the original garment.

Later, in workshop I found a vintage mid-century silk chiffon dress and tried it on doll. Before I knew it, she was wearing a second outfit as well. This delicate silk ensemble includes layers of ruffles, ties, a lining, and a matching headband.

This doll has become the heroine of many of my photo shoots. She is wonderfully photogenic and patiently holds every pose.

In my experience, the evening sun reveals the beauty of antique dolls especially well. In these photographs, you can see how warmly it brings her features to life.