Wax Dolls
Wax Dolls
As with wooden dolls, wax figures were found in Egyptian tombs representing servants to assist in the after life as well as waxen
effigies of their gods. The Greeks and Romans learned wax modeling from the Egyptians and fashioned wax busts of their
ancestors. Hiller suggests they also made wax dolls, as they made wood and cloth dolls, however none are known to exist
today. The rise of Christianity and, more to the point, the rise in the power of the Christian Church, adapted creative methods of
the Greeks and Romans to making candles and figures, especially crèche figures. The members of a church frequently left wax
body parts in the altar to plead for divine intervention. While the art of wax modeling was improved upon in the monasteries and
convents, individuals modeled wax at home. This was alluded to above with the wax parts left in hopes of divine intervention,
but was also apparent with the use of wax figures for witchcraft common in the early centuries. As the model of scientific inquiry
spread, wax modelers were called upon to make models for display and teaching. It was an easy step from the accurate
modeling of the human body for scientific display to accurate wax modeling for dolls and mannequins.
Wax was used by artists as varied as Verrocchio, Da Vinci, and Michelangelo for modeling and casting. Angelo Pio in the early
18th century, made realistic wax portrait models with glass eyes, human hair and even clothes and accessories. Anna Morandi
and her husbad Giovanni Manzolini, known for their incredibly realistic wax models of the human dissection, followed him.
Philippe Curtius, a doctor who practiced wax modeling for anatomical models, taught Madame Tussaud in the 1760s. Traveling
as well as permanent displays of wax figures of royalty and famous criminals were popular diversions of the 18th and early 19th
centuries. Individuals modeled wax portraits and this became a popular hobby among fashionable ladies of the time.
By the end of the 18th century, the expensive and well-costumed wooden doll was “old-fashioned” and not practical for the
burgeoning mass market. Wax dolls, especially babies, were more popular and easily produced by the beginning of the 19th
century. This pattern repeats itself in the last quarter of the 19th century when wax dolls were “old-fashioned” and new
materials (bisque) were more practical for the ever-increasing middle class.
Doll Makers of Record
There were many doll makers, with as many recipes for wax, to make dolls. There is record in the New England Weekly
Journal, the London Daily Post and German newspapers of the 18th century record the traveling of dolls, wax mannequins, to
show the current fashions of London and Paris. These were the original Fashion Dolls. It is reasonable, from the state of
preservation of some of the dolls that the dolls were passed unto children when they were out of style much as parents today
pass on items no longer current to their children. The story of the Powell collection spans 1754 to 1910. The original wax doll
was dressed by Letitia Clark in 1754. Dolls were dressed early until her marriage six years later. The doll of that year was
dressed in remnants of the wedding attire. The collection was passed down and added to over the years documenting fashions
of the time in which they were dressed. Letitia’s grandson and granddaughters gave the collection to the Victoria and Albert
Museum. Her great grandson carried on the tradition of concern for children. General Sir Robert Baden Powell founded the
Boy Scouts.
These are the better-documented makers.
Anthony Bazzoni
No known speaking dolls exist, but Anthony Bazzoni is recorded in the London Labour and the London Poor as saying he “is the
only person who ever made the speaking doll”. Hiller reports that the only marked Bazzoni known is a wax-over papier mache
head with human hair wig and glass eyes dated from the 1850s. It does not speak.
Pierotti Family
The Pierotti family was originally from Northern Italy. In 1790 Domenico Pierotti married and established himself in London. He
is recorded to have sold dolls in 1793 in the Pantheon Bazaar. His sons continued the tradition of making wax dolls winning a
medal at the 1849 London exhibition. There is evidence that the dolls were modeled upon the Pierotti children. They were
finely sculpted with glass inset eyes; human hair was inserted, often in individual strands. Dolls were made for Queen Victoria
as well as for hairdressers’ and tailors’ models. The dolls were sold in upscale stores such as Hamley’s, and Morrell’s. The
family continued making wax dolls up to the 1930s.
Pierotti Montanari
Montanari Family
Augusta Montanari was born in England in 1818. She married her Corsican husband with records of their having lived in
England and in USA. The dolls were noted for the fine costuming by Augusta Montanari as well as the ethnic characterization
of the Mexican and Indian (Native American) dolls. Two years after the Pierotti dolls won at the London exhibition of 1840,
Montanari dolls won at the Great Exhibition in 1851. There is some question as to whether they were also exhibited in New
York in 1853. They were also displayed at the 1855 Paris Exhibition and again at the 1878 exhibition in Paris.
Meech Family
Unlike Pierotti and Montanari dolls that were sometimes marked and sometimes not marked, Meech dolls were usually marked.
He studied under Madame Toussard and began his own firm to make wax dolls shortly after her death. He and members of his
family made wax dolls until is death in 1916. His wife carried on the business until the 1920s. His doll making business was
subject to the same competition as other doll makers at the end of the 19th century causing the dolls to be modified from poured
wax to the less expensive wax over papier mache.
Marsh Family
Marsh family is listed in a London Directory of 1864 and dolls are known to have been shipped to the United States. However,
little more is known of the doll making business. The doll repair business was run by the widow and daughter after the death of
Charles Marsh until sometime in the 1920s.
W. H. Cremer and Son
Cremer advertised as a German Toy Wharehouse demonstrating clear ties to the Sonneberg toy makers. He had his display at
the London Exhibition in 1862 with the opening of a prestigious toy shop soon to follow. He was an agent for Pierotti and
possibly Edwards. His dolls carry a Cremer mark but it is unclear if the dolls were made by him or made by others and finished
by him.
John Edwards
John Edwards dolls are unmarked presumably, according to Hiller, as his business was a wholesale to the trade ranging from
the very expensive to the very inexpensive wax doll. His factory was established approximately 1868 and he was recorded as
having exhibited wax dolls in the London Exhibition of 1871. As happened with the other makers, he was known for his wax
dolls but also made wax over papier mache (composition) and rag dolls in the manner of Montanari.
Lucy Peck
Lucy Peck opened her Dolls’ Home in 1893 on Regents Street. It was closed in 1908 and moved to Kensington. It moved
several more times ultimately shifting from a toy shop to more of a doll hospital as the taste in dolls shifted from wax to bisque to
composition. In 1922, Mrs. Peck retired.
References
Coleman, D.S., Coleman, E. A., and Coleman, E. J. (1968). The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Dolls. Crown N. Y., N. Y.
Coleman, D.S., Coleman, E. A., and Coleman, E. J. (1986). The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Dolls Vol II. Crown N. Y., N. Y.
Hillier, M. (1985). The History of Wax Dolls. Hobby House Press. Cumberland, Md.
As with wooden dolls, wax figures were found in Egyptian tombs representing servants to assist in the after life as well as waxen
effigies of their gods. The Greeks and Romans learned wax modeling from the Egyptians and fashioned wax busts of their
ancestors. Hiller suggests they also made wax dolls, as they made wood and cloth dolls, however none are known to exist
today. The rise of Christianity and, more to the point, the rise in the power of the Christian Church, adapted creative methods of
the Greeks and Romans to making candles and figures, especially crèche figures. The members of a church frequently left wax
body parts in the altar to plead for divine intervention. While the art of wax modeling was improved upon in the monasteries and
convents, individuals modeled wax at home. This was alluded to above with the wax parts left in hopes of divine intervention,
but was also apparent with the use of wax figures for witchcraft common in the early centuries. As the model of scientific inquiry
spread, wax modelers were called upon to make models for display and teaching. It was an easy step from the accurate
modeling of the human body for scientific display to accurate wax modeling for dolls and mannequins.
Wax was used by artists as varied as Verrocchio, Da Vinci, and Michelangelo for modeling and casting. Angelo Pio in the early
18th century, made realistic wax portrait models with glass eyes, human hair and even clothes and accessories. Anna Morandi
and her husbad Giovanni Manzolini, known for their incredibly realistic wax models of the human dissection, followed him.
Philippe Curtius, a doctor who practiced wax modeling for anatomical models, taught Madame Tussaud in the 1760s. Traveling
as well as permanent displays of wax figures of royalty and famous criminals were popular diversions of the 18th and early 19th
centuries. Individuals modeled wax portraits and this became a popular hobby among fashionable ladies of the time.
By the end of the 18th century, the expensive and well-costumed wooden doll was “old-fashioned” and not practical for the
burgeoning mass market. Wax dolls, especially babies, were more popular and easily produced by the beginning of the 19th
century. This pattern repeats itself in the last quarter of the 19th century when wax dolls were “old-fashioned” and new
materials (bisque) were more practical for the ever-increasing middle class.
Doll Makers of Record
There were many doll makers, with as many recipes for wax, to make dolls. There is record in the New England Weekly
Journal, the London Daily Post and German newspapers of the 18th century record the traveling of dolls, wax mannequins, to
show the current fashions of London and Paris. These were the original Fashion Dolls. It is reasonable, from the state of
preservation of some of the dolls that the dolls were passed unto children when they were out of style much as parents today
pass on items no longer current to their children. The story of the Powell collection spans 1754 to 1910. The original wax doll
was dressed by Letitia Clark in 1754. Dolls were dressed early until her marriage six years later. The doll of that year was
dressed in remnants of the wedding attire. The collection was passed down and added to over the years documenting fashions
of the time in which they were dressed. Letitia’s grandson and granddaughters gave the collection to the Victoria and Albert
Museum. Her great grandson carried on the tradition of concern for children. General Sir Robert Baden Powell founded the
Boy Scouts.
These are the better-documented makers.
Anthony Bazzoni
No known speaking dolls exist, but Anthony Bazzoni is recorded in the London Labour and the London Poor as saying he “is the
only person who ever made the speaking doll”. Hiller reports that the only marked Bazzoni known is a wax-over papier mache
head with human hair wig and glass eyes dated from the 1850s. It does not speak.
Pierotti Family
The Pierotti family was originally from Northern Italy. In 1790 Domenico Pierotti married and established himself in London. He
is recorded to have sold dolls in 1793 in the Pantheon Bazaar. His sons continued the tradition of making wax dolls winning a
medal at the 1849 London exhibition. There is evidence that the dolls were modeled upon the Pierotti children. They were
finely sculpted with glass inset eyes; human hair was inserted, often in individual strands. Dolls were made for Queen Victoria
as well as for hairdressers’ and tailors’ models. The dolls were sold in upscale stores such as Hamley’s, and Morrell’s. The
family continued making wax dolls up to the 1930s.
Pierotti Montanari
Montanari Family
Augusta Montanari was born in England in 1818. She married her Corsican husband with records of their having lived in
England and in USA. The dolls were noted for the fine costuming by Augusta Montanari as well as the ethnic characterization
of the Mexican and Indian (Native American) dolls. Two years after the Pierotti dolls won at the London exhibition of 1840,
Montanari dolls won at the Great Exhibition in 1851. There is some question as to whether they were also exhibited in New
York in 1853. They were also displayed at the 1855 Paris Exhibition and again at the 1878 exhibition in Paris.
Meech Family
Unlike Pierotti and Montanari dolls that were sometimes marked and sometimes not marked, Meech dolls were usually marked.
He studied under Madame Toussard and began his own firm to make wax dolls shortly after her death. He and members of his
family made wax dolls until is death in 1916. His wife carried on the business until the 1920s. His doll making business was
subject to the same competition as other doll makers at the end of the 19th century causing the dolls to be modified from poured
wax to the less expensive wax over papier mache.
Marsh Family
Marsh family is listed in a London Directory of 1864 and dolls are known to have been shipped to the United States. However,
little more is known of the doll making business. The doll repair business was run by the widow and daughter after the death of
Charles Marsh until sometime in the 1920s.
W. H. Cremer and Son
Cremer advertised as a German Toy Wharehouse demonstrating clear ties to the Sonneberg toy makers. He had his display at
the London Exhibition in 1862 with the opening of a prestigious toy shop soon to follow. He was an agent for Pierotti and
possibly Edwards. His dolls carry a Cremer mark but it is unclear if the dolls were made by him or made by others and finished
by him.
John Edwards
John Edwards dolls are unmarked presumably, according to Hiller, as his business was a wholesale to the trade ranging from
the very expensive to the very inexpensive wax doll. His factory was established approximately 1868 and he was recorded as
having exhibited wax dolls in the London Exhibition of 1871. As happened with the other makers, he was known for his wax
dolls but also made wax over papier mache (composition) and rag dolls in the manner of Montanari.
Lucy Peck
Lucy Peck opened her Dolls’ Home in 1893 on Regents Street. It was closed in 1908 and moved to Kensington. It moved
several more times ultimately shifting from a toy shop to more of a doll hospital as the taste in dolls shifted from wax to bisque to
composition. In 1922, Mrs. Peck retired.
References
Coleman, D.S., Coleman, E. A., and Coleman, E. J. (1968). The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Dolls. Crown N. Y., N. Y.
Coleman, D.S., Coleman, E. A., and Coleman, E. J. (1986). The Collector’s Encyclopedia of Dolls Vol II. Crown N. Y., N. Y.
Hillier, M. (1985). The History of Wax Dolls. Hobby House Press. Cumberland, Md.
