Mad Doll Doctor

I like to keep several dolls going at once (I have a short attention span and I’m easily bored…maybe someday I’ll grow out of it, but I doubt it) I got this poor dolly at auction. She is a Schoenhut.

This poor girl had no nose or mouth, they had been completely carved off. I can’t imagine what happened her, well, actually I can….

Imagine, it’s the day after Christmas in 1911, and little Lord Randolph is admiring his new pocket knife, he can’t wait to try it out, but on what? And then he sees sister Beatrice with her new Schoenhut dolly…dumb old girls and their dumb old dollies…did she just stick her tongue out you, little Lord Randolph?…she’ll pay for that…oh yesssss…she’ll pay…

Sorry. Sometimes I get carried away with my dolls. I have had several Schoenhuts, but one in particular could identify with our faceless girl…she had a face, yes, but no paint. Somewhere back in her past her paint was removed, presumably by a doll doctor who intended to restore her. For whatever reason she was never restored.

I was able to make a mold of the paint-less baby, simply by pressing a fat wad of Paperclay over her nose and mouth, then lifting it away. This must be done very carefully so as not to distort the mold features. Then lay the mold aside to dry. Once dry, I place a smallish wad of Apoxie Sculpt directly onto the faceless face of my faceless girl…are you still with me? Since her eyes are still in good shape I avoid getting Apoxie Sculpt on them. Then I brush a tiny amount of mineral oil into the inside of the mold and line the mold up with where the nose and mouth should be, next, press the mold (fairly hard) onto the wad of Apoxie Sculpt, then carefully lift the mold up and away from the face. This takes a bit of practice and you may have to remove some of the Apoxie Sculpt and try again if you find you have a lot of excess spoodging out from the sides of the mold. Sometimes you have to try several times to get it just right. One you get a pleasing profile, carefully clean off any excess Apoxie Sculpt that has spoodged out, and smooth and blend the edges with water-dampened fingers. When you are satisfied that her new features are correct and symmetrical , put her aside to dry. WHaaLLA! She now has a face! Now all we have to do is give her a light sanding, prime and paint her. I apologize for not having a picture of her without a nose and mouth, but I did this a month ago, before I started this blog. Next time, we’ll check back in with miss Floradora, who is recuperating from her knee and elbow replacements.