Costume Dolls

Years ago when travelling at home and abroad collecting costume dolls was something that people tended to do. I say home and abroad because I do have a selection of British dolls too. However, as a consequence we have a cabinet full of them. Will they ever become desirable objects? I have my doubts, but having said that one or two do stand out as being quite unusual or special. One doll in our collection is the same as one I saw recently being sold as a 'vintage' sailor boy. My sailor boy was bought for me as a six year old by my grandmother. 

She purchased it on the Empress of Scotland when she sailed to and from Canada where she stayed for a few months with my aunt, her daughter. 

He is certainly not in mint condition as he has been greatly loved and sadly has lost the ribbon around his cap which read The Empress of Scotland. However, I would never part with him as he brings back fond memories of times spent with my grandmother. These sailor boys were made for cruise ships by Norah Wellings a talented artist and designer of cloth dolls. She started her career with Chad Valley becoming their chief doll designer. Eventually she left and began her own business called The Victoria Toy Works.

The doll below is from the Japanese Meiji period, and is well over 100 years old. 

She is a Geisha girl wearing a lovely red hat. Her silk kimono is hand painted with trails of wisteria blossom, and my understanding is that her hands and face are glazed with crushed oyster shells (Gofun) which creates the bright white finish.

The way this doll is dressed is both authentic and accurate.

Maybe I will open the cabinet doors again one day and have another exploration.

Mercury Glass

Mercury glass was very popular during the Victorian period. It was known as poor man's silver, and provided an inexpensive alternative to the silver objects that furnished the churches and grand houses of the wealthy.
In recent years there has been a revival of objects made from mercury glass - candlesticks, vases, and baubles for the Christmas tree.
Mercury is a toxic substance, but mercury glass is actually a misnomer having no mercury in it whatsoever. It is made from clear glass which is mould-blown into a double walled shape and coated on the inside with a silvering formula made from silver nitrate and a grape sugar solution. This is inserted through a small hole that is then sealed. In the beginning some manufacturers did try to line the glass with a mercury solution, but the practice was quickly discontinued due to both the expense and toxicity.

HMS Beagle travelling through the Straits of Magellan

As a child I recall that my grandmother had a large Admiral FitzRoy barometer containing glass tubes filled with mercury. She had inherited it from her aunt, who had married into the famous Darwin family.  

Admiral FitzRoy was appointed meterorologist aboard the hydrographic survey vessel HMS Beagle in 1826 exploring the coasts of southern Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego. These waters were unchartered and plagued by dangerous tides, storms and blizzards. Two years into the voyage and the captain, Pringle Stokes, had had enough - gripped by depression he shot himself, and FitzRoy became entrusted with the command of HMS Beagle at the young age of 23. On his second trip Charles Darwin was invited to join him on the Beagle's voyage and as we now know this voyage was to have a profound effect on Darwin's thinking resulting in a lasting legacy for the future development of science. 
In my Grandmother's Admiral FitzRoy barometer some of the mercury had escaped from the glass tubes and formed silver balls in the bottom of the container. If I shook it gently some of the balls would amalgamate and make big globules, and if I shook it a bit harder they would disperse into a myriad of tiny balls. I now realise that it was a very stupid thing to do, but at the time it excited my curiosity - I don't expect that my grandmother knew what I was doing, nor would she have been aware of the inherent dangers lurking in her sittingroom. I was fortunate that the wooden barometer cabinet was well sealed, thus preventing the escape of such a noxious substance.

More about Admiral FitzRoy here