The waistline indicated the era.
The lower waistlines on the two dolls on the left indicate the late eighteenth century or Georgian era. The higher waistline on the doll on the right, called “Empire” after the Napoleonic Empire in France, is also the waistline of the Regency period at the same time in England, the early part of the nineteenth century. Waistlines lowered again in the late nineteenth century during the American Gilded Age or English Victorian Era.
The doll on the left wears a typical everyday ensemble with a cutaway half gown. The lacing would normally thread through the lapels of the gown and secure it over her bodice. She is by Inka Grosse and Sue Zwahlen of Germany.
The doll in the centers wears a formal eighteenth century or Georgian robe à la Francaise, a cutaway gown usually worn over a central petticoat and pinned to a stomacher. She is from a Bonnie Sanford porcelain kit called “Marie,” dressed by Marlys Sellers, with a wig by Beverly Dahl.
The doll on the right is dressed for 1810, or the Regency period, in a high-waisted gown. The gold at her neck is a piece of foil I inserted to stabilize her loose neck joint. This doll is a Beverly Dahl creation.
The dolls are staged in a 1:12 scale 1810 French Chateau made by my mother and previously on display at the Jacques Art Center in Minnesota.
For the next post in the series, click here.
Photos by Karen Nyenhuis. Dollhouse from a family collection.