Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Royal Doulton

My grandma collects Royal Doulton dolls - starting with her namesake, the Louise figurine - and so each of her 3 daughters, including my mom, and her 1 granddaughter, me, have their doll as well. This little lady is my Amanda figurine, which I received near the end of high school:
My middle name is Laurie Anne, my grandma's first daughter's name. She had DS & leukemia & lived for only 18 months, so the name has special meaning to all of us. My grandma was able to find a Laurie Anne doll for herself many years ago, mostly by pure luck. She's a rare antique doll & fairly hard to find. At first, I'd hoped that I would inherit that doll (the contents of my grandma's will has always been a bit of an ongoing joke, since she has quite the collection of china & other pretty things) - except that she was the 3rd tall figurine in my grandma's collection.... so Laurie Anne was destined for my aunt. I was heartbroken, but obviously understood.

During my week at home, my grandma surprised me with a gift for graduating with my MSc (soon). Yes - that's right - my very own Laurie Anne doll:
It took my grandma over 8 months to find her!
She's breathtaking & looks especially lovely with my 2nd Royal Doulton figurine (also antique), The Last Waltz, a gift from my parents for graduating with my BSc.
For now they sit on my shelves, looking ladylike. I can't wait to have enough room to get them a proper cabinet.

2 comments:

Deana Mattos said...

What a beautiful start to a great collection.

Angie said...

I love those dolls, they are just so beautiful. I used to look at them all the time in the Sears Wishbook at Christmas time.