More Carte de Visite doubles!

I've been a bad girl and broke my 'sort of' New Years resolution to try to post more often...as you can see it's been a month since my last post and I apologize for my laziness!  

I just recently began an exciting new job and it's taken up an awful lot of my time...so much so that I haven't even gotten much done in the way of making dolls.  I've got one large unfinished doll head sitting here staring at me for the last month and she's not pleased with me at all.  But to try to make up for being so blog lazy I am posting a few more of my Carte de Visites that I have found over the years, miraculously of either the same family or the same person!

Three little sisters who desperately needed to be kept together!

I cannot figure out if these are all the same gal or if they are sisters, but I recognized this face and the very distinct hairline and knew they belonged together.  All the images were taken at the same studio.  I'd like to think they appreciate the reunion I gave them!

These two little girls were purchased at different times and it was perhaps a year later that I even realized they went together.  A total accident.  I purchased both of them because they had dolls and unique dresses which are nearly identical.

 The same situation occurred with both of these CDV's....I bought them both because they had many young ladies in them, and you don't often find that.  Eventually I realized the same girls are in both images, although what threw me was the fact that in the second one they've added two more people and changed their positions.

Two sisters that accidentally showed up in the same way!  I thought, boy, these are awfully alike...same photographer, same town....they might not be related to each other, but the cameo style and their resemblance to one another in face and hair tell me they are sisters.

I thought these two girls looked an awful lot alike too....both photographed in the same city, although not the same studio.  At first I thought that they were sisters, but upon examining the clothing styles, I think they are in fact the same girl at different times.

Another happy accident!  Obviously by looking one can tell this is the same studio, VERY distinctive and lovely...and that's why I purchased the second cdv...I put them together because they 'went' so well together, then I realized that the baby in both images is the same child.  I'm not sure why he appears with two different women (although they do indeed strongly resemble one another) and two different girls, one older and one much younger.  I think perhaps one is the mother and one is the aunt and cousin.  It's fun to try to figure out their lives!  These two are from England.  I find the European Carte de Visites often have more detailed studio backgrounds and often the clothing is very expensive.

Double Takes

I collect Cartes de Visites from the mid Victorian era.  I am addicted to these little gems!  I have lost track of how many I have, and have purchased nearly but not all of them from ebay.   Once in a while I'd come across a seller selling cdvs of the same person or same family members in a combined lot, but not very often.  Most cdv's I purchase are singles, and I've found matching people from different sellers at different times, which I find amazing.


On occasion, I've come across a cdv listing on ebay and thought, hmmm....that face looks awfully familiar!  And lo and behold, I do indeed already possess that same person in my collection.  Needless to say, I have an intrinsic need to keep these poor people together, so I give it my all in the bidding process to bring them home.  Sadly, there have been some that have gotten away that I truly regret losing out on.  This is the situation in the case of the images below.


They are of Amelie Beaufour, a little Parisian girl between 1861 and 1866.  I lost out on her Confirmation photograph and her older sister's Confirmation photograph.  I'm still peeved about it!  The first four images you see here are the front and back of the Amelie Beaufour cdv's I have in my possession.  The following three I found amazingly in a recent book purchase.  I tried to contact the writer of the book and got nowhere.  I really want these last three cdv's to keep them all together.

 The following images of Amelie Beaufour are found in "Hats, Caps & Bonnets: 1855-1875; 12 Patterns for Dolls & An Illustrated History"   by Marianne Burke.

Mademoiselle Beaufour was obviously a young lady of upper class, and her parents were able to have her portrait taken every year, and she's dressed to the nines in each image.  Lucky girl!  I do have more 'double takes' that I will post during the next few days.  Amelie is my very favorite, because I am able to some degree watch this little girl grow up in another lifetime.  Oh how I wish I were able to find more of her.  I might get lucky!

New Year, new goals!

Given that I am "post challenged" and have only posted lately when I've completed a little dolly, there's quite a span of time between posts!  I'm a bad blogger and my resolution (meaning for about a week) is to be better about posting more frequently.  In going over my blog and trying to see what's lacking, I realized that I neglect to share some of my other little hobbies and activities, which could certainly increase the number of posts between doll completions.  


I've got about a million fabulous Cartes de Visites I've collected over the years, rotting away in their albums that I could dust off, and dresses made for antique dolls and for big people too!


However, in order to accomplish that goal, it's necessary for me to go trolling through my files and 'stuff', where I tend to get waylaid and forget why I'm there in the first place.  When I 'snoop' through my own forgotten stuff, I could be gone for hours, days, weeks.  So again, you might not hear from me till next month.  But I'm trying, I swear to that.


I decided this Christmas vacation to relax and finally got a chance to go explore some amazing blogs I hadn't seen before, and that's so addicting!  Like being in a candy store with nobody telling you to pack it in and go home already.


I have to spend a little time today on self-maintenance, meaning I can wait no longer to henna out the full 3/4 inch of gray hair that's crept up on me.  Back to my real job tomorrow and I don't want to scare anyone. Heaven forbid they actually figure out I AM as old as I look.  Of course, while I'm waiting for that henna to set, I'll be back exploring all the goodies you other fabulous bloggers have to offer!  Should only take a few hours.  Got another dolly drying out in the oven so I can't work on her, and I might as well enjoy myself this last day of vacation.


Thank you so much to all you wonderful people out there who take the time out of your day to keep up with what I'm doing, I really appreciate it!  Have a wonderful, fabulous New Year, and don't kill yourself over those pesky resolutions.  Before you know it, it'll be 2012 and you can make them all over again anyway.  That's what I do.

A Happy and Prosperous, Peaceful New Year to all!

Newest Izannah Walker style doll

Sold

 Here is my latest Izannah Walker style doll!

 She's 18 inches tall, completely hand made from cloth and paperclay.  I never use molds, and she's hand sculpted using photographs of original Izannah Walker dolls.

 She comes with TWO dresses! Both are completely handsewn in the period correct manner. No shortcuts taken on clothing.  Both dresses are made from early 19th century reproduction cotton, which has been treated to convey an antique patina.

Her blue dress features three growth pleats in the skirt, and short puffed sleeves.

 She comes with complete underpinnings; drawers, petticoat and chemise.  All are removeable.

 She's available for sale through this site.  If you are interested in purchasing her, have any questions or wish to see additional photographs, please email me:  robinseggbleu@yahoo.com  

Thanks so much for taking a peek at her!

How I spent my Thanksgiving Weekend

Hope your weekend was as good as mine! 

Happy Thanksgiving!