LESLEY EWING NOLAN FINE ART
WELCOME TO MY ANTIQUES AND DOLL SHOP
IMPORTANT: I AM A HOME BASED BUSINESS NOT A STORE FRONT, SO CALL FOR APPOINTMENTS.
A doll hospital in most towns was a common sight in the 1800s and then home doll dr. became a popular business for women in the 1960s. But with the creation of modern materials, dolls were affordable and not made to last, they were meant to be played with and then thrown out. While there are a lot of good how to videos on youtube if you want to try a simple repair yourself like restringing,some doll hardware is more complicated and you will need the right tools. There are some dolls I will not attempt to repair in particular, talking mechanisms and walking hardware. Stuffed animals are STRICTLY on a case by basis, and I will not take on thread bare totally worn out stuffed animals. Some items will just need to be replaced and you can often find your stuffed animal on ebay so do a search there first.
I am also maybe one of a few people in Colorado Springs area who does this work, there are some in Denver as well. I have been doing doll repairs since 2013, and I tend to do a LOT of antique composition doll repairs, china and bisque heads and a LOT of restringing as well as repairing cloth bodies on more modern baby dolls when possible. I tend to avoid the complicated plastic dolls with a lot of springs and rubber bands for instance or those with ballerina feet that are held in place by that hardware. Like a charmin chatty cathy where the eyes are near impossible to replace...I know my limits and other doll doctors have No problem cracking open a plastic doll to work on the insides then sealing them. You can search Dolldoctorsassociation.com and make inquiries for those difficult repairs.
I also collect and SELL dolls focusing on antique and early vintage I DO NOT BUY OR SELL ANY modern porcelain collectible dolls like Donna Rubert, made in China, or homemade art dolls. You can see some of what I have available now in my ebay and etsy shops on these website pages under Dolls for Sale. You can read some reviews of my doll repairs on yellowpages.com and under doll repairs CO Springs on google maps. Again I work from home so call or text and preferably with pictures of your doll issue. Use a measuring tape for the overall size of the doll please. Pictures save a TON of time and also look for makers marks on back of head, neck or shoulder area.
HERE are the two links to my online shops, clicking on them will take you away from this website.
www.ebay.com/str/oldblackdog
https://www.etsy.com/people/lesleynolan
As I learned various repairs- from restringing, to composition repair- I had to pull up all my old art training skills from my art careers and learn some new ones-- like airbrushing, putty sculpting-- to create missing parts like fingers, making doll clothes and sometimes making patterns. Sewing doll bodies, clothes, making things work-- sometimes with plumbing bits and hardware like cotter pins and springs are also part of the work.
KEEP IN MIND that the cost of doll repair should be considered, if you plan to 'FLIP' the doll on ebay after repairing, you will not recoup what you spent, especially in the current economy. I am selling German antique bisque head dolls for a fraction of what they SHOULD get due to the recession and a glut of dolls being dumped by people who are inheriting and not interested in keeping the family member's doll collection.
I am a member of the DollDoctorsAssociation.com , if you are in other areas/states feel free to go to that page and check the map for doll doctors near you.
My clients are generally from all immediately surrounding states. There is usually a couple weeks wait now especially for composition repairs, but sometimes I have a free calendar and can work quickly. When your doll is ready you need to arrange same week pick up as space is a premium for me in my workroom.
I charge a basic $25/hour minimum (one hour) for repairs and then materials. There is a point where most folks will weigh the cost of repairs vs keeping the doll and I always advise clients that some dolls CAN be found on ebay for less than the cost of repairing theirs...but DOLLS that have been in the family hold a lot of sentimental value.
A doll restringing job can take an hour or more plus elastic cording/rubber bands and hooks to do so. Even a small Madame Alexander restringing can take more time than you would think. A multi part composition antique doll body will have MANY parts-- as much as 18 including limbs and torso and ball joints and are more complicated to restring.
I prefer to redress a doll in period appropriate clothing if a client wishes, that means socks shoes underwear dress wig etc. so also keep in mind that finding these vintage or antique items can be a challenge and are getting expensive but I tend to sell them at my cost which again no doll drs do!
SOME FACTS ABOUT YOUR DOLLS
A typical Composition doll, such as a mama doll or baby or Shirley Temple from the 1920s to 1940s, are generally damaged from the change in humidity and being exposed to water. The composition material, made of sawdust, glycerin, glue etc. expands and contracts and the paint begins to craze, then crack, and finally lift and peel over time. The correct repair for one in really bad condition involves removing all the peeled paint, sanding, putty filling issues, and airbrushing. These jobs are more time consuming and again, keep in mind how much you LOVE that doll when you think about repairing vs replacing. I have done many of these repairs and also try to replace the 'cryer' mechanism with a vintage 'modern' plastic version I buy online when available.
With china head and porcelain doll repairs things get tricky. I epoxy broken parts with product designed for porcelain repairs. Then I airbrush the repair areas if possible sometimes I touch up by hand and try to avoid brush strokes as I go. I do NOT use oil based paint for airbrushing and fired China is very slick--so I do NOT touch up the faces on most china or bisque once repaired. The doll will have her scars but that is life. I can do spot touch up on the black hair of a china head doll. The value has diminished with damage so best you can do is accept an accident, patch up the doll and love her. Wigs and Hats are GREAT at hiding head repairs! You will often see Very expensive French dolls for sale that will have hairline cracks mentioned, yet are well hidden with curly wigs, big fancy hats etc. and collectors will still buy them if they are a coveted mold.
You can't replicate the look, color and texture of painted fired china doll faces in my opinion, as they are fired in a kiln at extreme high temps. It's a bit easier with bisque porcelain dolls to airbrush as the surface is matte, but acrylic paint can be scratched off, so I tell clients the dolls should be displayed but NOT played with, of course being antiques they are no longer 'playthings'. If you like to dress your repaired doll in different outfits at holidays be cautious to avoid scratching paint off the repair area.
LASTLY I always recommend BUY ANTIQUES not REPRODUCTIONS! PLEASE don't buy modern porcelain dolls, they are now piling up on the shelves of thrift shops, selling for a dollar or two. Even the once highly sought after Madame Alexanders have lost their value sadly and I will NOT buy or sell them anymore. STUDY, RESEARCH, BUY THE BEST OF AN EXAMPLE. For instance an earlier hair styles china head, an English wax doll, a paper mache; a KESTNER or Simon Halbig Bisque headed doll, an antique NOT repro FRENCH FASHION in antique outfit if you can afford it. Remember that ANTIQUE means at or pre 1920s.
BELOW: SHIRLEY TEMPLE gets a restoration of her wig with a doll sized curling iron. These wigs were mohair, always test hot curling iron especially on synthetic doll hair to see if it can handle heat as some hair can melt. A new replacement mohair wig typically costs between $25 to 100.
