Antique doll collector Freeda Pattinson both collected and curated dolls for years, compiling an extensive collection that was auctioned off for the most part by Thierault's.
We have offered for sale dolls from her estate that she retained of lesser value and of a sentimental nature.
Freeda was a wife and mother of two. She taught piano and worked as a legal secretary. She attended doll conventions, took workshops, and exhibited dolls she costumed. The following article was written about her doll collection when she lived in Pratt, Kan., during the 60s.
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Antique Dolls, Unique Hobby
Tribune Newspaper article by Darwinne Hakanson; Tribune Photo, circa 1960s
COLLECTOR’S ITEMS NOW – At one time, many of the antique dolls in Mrs. John Pattinson’s collection provided hours of child play for unknown individuals. Here, Mrs. Pattinson points out the first doll in her collection of over 150, one that belonged to her mother. At left are some of the doll heads she plans to make into complete dolls someday.
At least one adult Prattan (Pratt, Kansas), has a legitimate excuse for still playing with dolls – she collects them.
Mrs. John Pattinson has at least 150 dolls in her collection. This number includes many “just heads” that she hopes someday to complete by making cloth bodies. Now, she is kept busy repairing dolls belonging to others.
In the collection are dolls with heads of china, bisque, parian, papier mache, wax, tin, wooden, and Oklahoma clay.
No two of the 150 dolls are identical. At a glance, several look the same but closer inspection reveals the hair style varies, features and coloring differ or heads tilt at different angles. Some have pierced ears and some have more color in their cheeks than others. Some have blue eyes, some gray, and a few, brown.
Each of Mrs. Pattinson’s dolls, which she classifies as “antique,” is at least 50 years old. Her most prized doll, the first in her collection, is one that belonged to her mother. The doll has a china head and is over 60 years old. It is dressed in a costume that duplicates her mother’s wedding attire.
A doll with a wax head is very carefully wrapped in tissue paper and kept in a cool place and out of the sun.
An unusual doll is one made of all wood with spring joints. The doll molded from Oklahoma clay has the features of Will Rogers.
Many of the dolls are dressed in their original costumes of old laces and brocade. Several, show much wear, evidence of the enjoyment the doll provided for some youngster long ago.
Many of the dolls Mrs. Pattinson obtained from a friend in Oklahoma. Because of ill health, the friend wanted to do away with her collection and wanted it to go to someone who would be interested and appreciative.
Nearly all of the dolls were made in Germany. The Prattan would like to have a French doll but says that they are more scarce and cost from $150 to $500 each.
“Boy dolls are harder to find than girl dolls,” she explains. “They just didn’t make many of those. A brown-eyed china doll is very rare.”
Mrs. Pattinson doesn’t remember when or how she became interested in collecting antique dolls. “At first I didn’t say anything about it to my relatives. I was afraid they would say I had never grown up. Now, they think the collection is interesting.”
Her daughter, Pamela, 13, “isn’t much for dolls” but likes to show the collection to company. She wants to have it for her own someday. The Will Rogers doll is the favorite of her son, Roger.
Freeda M. Pattinson, June 9, 1918 – July 16, 2011 |
