Legacy Dolls

Dorothy – 12/5/00

We all know about dolls, but what is a Legacy Doll? The dictionary defines
a legacy as something gifted in a will or handed down by a predecessor. For a doll to be a valuable possession to be handed down from generation to generation it needs to be very special, a work of art rather than one of thousands of identical dolls produced in a factory.

Jan Herbert’s Legacy Dolls Tucked away in the Arts Centre in Christchurch there are many fascinating shops, but Legacy Dolls is more than a shop.

Maori Dolls

Maori Dolls Photo Source Jan Herbert

You can buy dolls there from a range of beautiful handmade dolls, and designer dolls’ clothes. Jan’s dolls are sent all over the world. They are packed in special boxes and sent to the homes of tourists who have visited the Arts Centre, found Legacy Dolls and been captivated by the dolls on offer, or to people who have seen the dolls their friends have purchased and ordered a doll for themselves.

Mandy 32 inches tall

Mandy 32 inches tall
Photo source Jan Herbert

Dolls are measured in inches because of the predominance of the American market. They come in a range of sizes from 4 to 32 inches. The prices range from $65 to $400.

Such a purchase is a legacy in itself, but a doll you have created yourself has even more significance for your family or friends.

Jan’s dream of doll making Jan well understands people’s longing to create their own doll. She has been addicted to doll making for years. She began as a mother making rag dolls for her family. She designed coloured clowns with felt faces, so appealing that clown making became a full time job as more and more shops wanted her creations.

Next to support the family she ran a workshop where she and her staff made jackets and sportswear for some thirteen years. This was such hard, intense work that she had no time for a hobby, but her dream of doll making didn’t fade.

Then she read in a Woman’s Day magazine an article about two Australian women, Lorraine McCarthy and Nan Doore-Smith, who were porcelain doll makers. So captivated was she by the article that she threw caution to the wind and rang them in Australia in the middle of the day – a costly exercise in the sixties when overseas toll calls were much more expensive than they are today!

Jan was given the name, address and phone number of Eileen Carroll in Wanganui. Concerned about the possible size of her phone bill Jan didn’t ring, but wrote to Eileen and found that Cobcraft in Christchurch was going to run a workshop on porcelain doll making. The fee was $250.00, a large sum at that time, and was too expensive for Jan’s budget so she still had to wait to fulfil that dream.

Doll Collectors’ Club At just that time some women whom Jan describes as “hard core collectors” put an advertisement in the paper to promote a Doll Collectors’ Club with meetings held in each other’s homes. Of course Jan joined the club.

Elizabeth Day generous with her skills One woman in the new group, Elizabeth Day, was able to attend the Cobcraft course and also visit Eileen Carroll in Wanganui. As she learnt the art of making porcelain dolls she passed on her skills to the others in the group, staying just one lesson ahead of them.

Sharing the fulfilment of her dream Soon after this Jan’s life changed and she had the finance and time to devote to her dream hobby – making porcelain dolls. As she puts it -“I was hooked. Whenever I could afford it I went to training in Wanganui, Auckland, and Australia. I like to attend the annual gatherings of trained teachers in Sydney. We exchange ideas, find out who is at the top for purchasing, and learn about new products and techniques.”

Doll making workshops Jan is such an enthusiast that she was not satisfied just to make dolls. She felt she had to share the art with others. She opened her studio in Arts Centre in 1991.

She runs ten doll making classes a week for adults during the school term. She accepts up to ten people in a group. It takes each person five or six two-hour sessions to make a doll.

Before opening her studio Jan taught doll making at secondary schools. She now runs classes for school students in the holidays. Enrolments pour in for these classes and they are filled within half an hour of opening, often with repeat enrolments. If you want to join a holiday course contact Jan now and get the details.

Dolls to last for centuries The dolls that are made by Jan and the people in her classes are quality dolls which can last for centuries. They are made of tough, genuine porcelain.

The stages in doll making Jan allowed me to watch a group at work and I was impressed by the warm friendly atmosphere.

Jan working with a group

Jan working with a group Photo source Jan Herbert

She took me to her storeroom in the basement below the workshop and I saw the wide range of four hundred moulds for heads, bodies, arms and legs in various sizes neatly stored along the wall.

I was so interested to learn that porcelain was discovered during the Ming Dynasty in China and that Marco Polo’s team is accredited with bringing the skills of slip casting to the West.

Liquid porcelain is supplied by Seeley’s ready to pour. The first step in the doll making is to pour the liquid porcelain into a plaster mould. The process works by absorption. The plaster mould absorbs the moisture out of the’ slurry of slip’ – the term used for porcelain at that stage. Within three minutes the procelain forms a skin as thick as a coin inside the mould. The surplus porcelain is then strained from the mould back into the jar. The casting left will still have moisture drawn from it into the mould which leaves it minutely smaller and able to be released from the mould. It takes three days to dry at its premium.

The imperfections are then cleaned off with tools and the casting is put in the kiln at 1225 cone 6 and becomes vitrified porcelain. This process takes twelve hours. The kiln is fully automatic and can be left to turn off at the end of the set time.

Next the china is painted and given four or five firings in the kiln at 800 cone 018.

Now the doll is ready to be assembled, and the hair is glued in place. Wigs for the dolls are imported ready styled, but of course they can be titivated to suit and the long wigs can be plaited.

The final product

The final product Photo source Jan Herbert

Lastly the doll is dressed. People making their own dolls can buy ready made dresses at Legacy Dolls, but most prefer to make their own doll’s clothes out of fabrics of their choice. Shoes, socks and accessories are also available for purchase. Your doll may be going to stand on show for centuries, so you may choose a mould for a seated doll and buy a rocking chair!

Looking at the dolls pictured in this article you may well want to purchase a doll or make your own.

Don’t wait. Contact Jan Herbert at Legacy Dolls, Arts Centre, Worcester Boulevard, Christchurch. Telephone and fax 377-2059