Georgiana is a fine hand-carved wooden doll, 17 ¼ inches tall. Her body is made of wood, except for her cloth upper arms.
She has antique glass eyes; her wig is made of antique mohair in a lovely
dark brown color. She has a wonderful patina that replicates the
effect of age on the painted wood.
The shift is considered the most basic garment of the eighteenth- century woman's wardrobe. It plays an essential role because not only does it
protect her clothing from the body moisture but also will protect her from the
roughness of some elaborate textiles. The gussets will also help with more
movement and comfort.
The shift, dickey petticoat, lace petticoat, false ramps, bonnet and stockings are made of antique cotton fabrics and lace dating from the
Victorian Era. All of them have a soft, off-white color reminiscent of antique
textiles.
Graduated ombre silk ribbons are tied around her legs, just below the knees, to hold up her stockings. This beautiful diminutive ribbon was sold by Au Bon Marche Department Store in Paris, France around 1890.
False rumps: Also called "split rump", not only will protect Georgiana from the roughness of some elements found in elaborate textiles, bu also provides an excellent skirt support and gives an attractive shape to it.
Her cotton petticoat is double layered with a very fine lace at the hem.
Double cloth pockets: late nineteenth-century quilted textile.
Skirt: eighteenth-century embroidery on an oyster cream silk ground. The colors are truly stunning. The side seams of the skirt have pocket slits to access to her secret cloth pockets.
Her chatelaine consists of a hussif (sewing kit) and a pinball pin cushion. The outer portion of the hussif is made
with the same quilted cotton of the pockets; the inner portion is lined with fragments of nineteenth-century textiles.
I made for Georgiana a beautiful pair of stays with detachable sleeves, they have front and back lacing; these are inspired by a wonderful
example dating from the mid eighteenth-century. There are not many survivors of
these particular stays with detachable sleeves, most of the time they are found
with traces of detachable sleeves that sadly no longer exist. The stays made of
luxury textiles and detachable sleeves indicate that they were worn to be
visible when dressed informally. Her stays are made of blue silk brocade woven with a pattern of meandering flowers; it's fully lined. The origin of this brocade fabric is French dating from around 1780.
To
help with the lacing of her stays, I have included a tiny bovine-bone needle.
She is wearing an antique silk flower rosette choker, made in France.
Shoes: Finely handcrafted, eighteenth-century brocade silk adorned with dainty silk ribbons.
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