Have I Completely Lost My Mind?

[talesofthesevenseas]

Miss Mary is home and enjoying the Eastlake rocker until I have a place set up for her.  

[hosman321]

Now doesn't she look comfortable! She's beautiful and what a great history she must have!

[sapphire]

Tales.........you absolutely HAVE to !!!!!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/atq/2224630346.html


 

[talesofthesevenseas]

Cute, but not a good idea in earthquake country. Those would pitch the dolls right onto their china heads. I'm thinking about bidding on this low-to-the-ground 1920's stroller though. I could have "the girls" in that with a blanket padding them.

[sapphire]

Ohhhhh, too sweet!!! 

Thanking my lucky stars I don't have earthquakes to deal with.

[talesofthesevenseas]

Someone on the doll forum suggested that she is a Kister rather than a Kestner. Here is this person's doll from the same 1850 era. She says the double painted eyebrow is normal for these dolls and that mine probably had a shoulder repair. This one does look a lot like mine, but again, not exactly. The painting style is the same though.

[sapphire]

Her eyebrows are definitely much closer to yours (Ms Mary's that is) !

[talesofthesevenseas]

The details of the face paint are very similar too. there is the double brow with a smaller brow painted in a layer under the larger one, and the way the lids are painted in red hooking in at the corners looks identical. The owner of the doll shown above said she was pretty sure that mine was a Kister.
 

[talesofthesevenseas]

I thought you antiquers might find this interesting since you have gotten to know my ancestor Mary Bolles Bradbury a bit through this doll. I'm planning a trip to Guilford NY, the town where Mary Bolles Bradbury lived as an adult, in June. Oxford, which is the town where she grew up, is right down the road. I had been searching for Mary's grave site for quite some time without any luck. Because of the trip to Guilford, I thought I would check to see if perhaps Mary's parents (my 4x great-grandparents) might be buried in Oxford. They were, and I found them immediately... and guess who else was there! I ran a search for other Bolles relations and there she was, buried under her maiden name "Bolles", which is why I wasn't able to find her on previous searches. I had been looking for the name she used in her last marriage, which was Day.

So whether you are hunting down info, your latest antique aquisition or searching for your roots, run a few extra searches, and follow those hunches and gut feelings, you never know what you might find!

[Oceans64]

Excellent!  Congrats...  Always feels good to solve a genealogy "problem"!

[KC]

Great job Talesof!

[talesofthesevenseas]

I thought it would be interesting to watch this auction for a doll that looks to be of the same mold/manufacture as our "Miss Mary". This one as a crack on her shoulderplate so probably we're looking at about the same value give or take.

 http://cgi.ebay.com/ANTIQUE-COVERED-WAGON-CHINA-HEAD-DOLL-18-TALL-/300542281537?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item45f9b74741

Here is the doll up for auction:

[waywardangler]

Nice doll but I still like yours because it resembles your ancestor more IMO.

[talesofthesevenseas]

I agree! In fact my mother and I went to a doll show this weekend looking for antique parts for a couple of old family dolls and we both agreed after looking at hundreds of them that there is just something special about that particular doll's look. I am VERY glad that I bought her and wouldn't ever part with her. That's what I love about the old, hand-painted dolls. Every one has her own unique personality and there is a much more human touch to them than with the modern plastic ones that are all exactly alike. But just for comparison, since I think this auction doll came from my doll's mold it will be interesting to watch what she sells for.