Overview of Porcelain dollmaking
A porcelain doll - by style, falls into two broad areas, a re-production of an antique doll, or an interpretation of a modern doll sculpt.
Construction wise - except for a full bisque, closed eyed baby doll with painted hair - all porcelain dolls will be multi-media.
These media will include natural fibre for hair, glass, acrylic, plastic for eyes and teeth, porcelain (bisque) for face and possibly body parts, material, sometimes leather for body construction, composites of various types for bodies and limbs, various mechanics for construction.
Preparation for a porcelain doll begins long before the porcelain is ever "fired" into being with careful blending of ingredients for the porcelain slip.
Combined with a plaster mould, the slip will become greenware after pouring, setting up and separating from the mould.
Construction wise - except for a full bisque, closed eyed baby doll with painted hair - all porcelain dolls will be multi-media.
These media will include natural fibre for hair, glass, acrylic, plastic for eyes and teeth, porcelain (bisque) for face and possibly body parts, material, sometimes leather for body construction, composites of various types for bodies and limbs, various mechanics for construction.
Preparation for a porcelain doll begins long before the porcelain is ever "fired" into being with careful blending of ingredients for the porcelain slip.
Combined with a plaster mould, the slip will become greenware after pouring, setting up and separating from the mould.
Any construction modifications need to be done at this time - holes for fixing or mounting, eyes cut out and a preliminary seam cleanup.
The greenware then needs a few days (depending on the weather) to dry out for the first firing
700-800 degrees (Celcius) later the Greenware is "soft fired" (in pottery terms a very low bisque) and ready for further dust free cleaning and tailoring - artists initials are applied at this stage as well. This cleaning stage is done with water and various abrasives (sanders, gloves and brushes).
Back into the kiln for the next round of firing - cone 6 is most common for doll grade porcelains - a cone defines the amount of heat over time and needs to be accurately measured.
Now we have the porcelain (bisque fired to vitrification) blank.
After further sanding, the porcelain dollmaker's work begins.
Here is a description of the steps we apply to make a porcelain (bisque) doll.
1 - Prep slip and pour, set-up and release greenware from mould - modify greenware as required for construction
2 - Soft fire then final seam clean and overall clean polish and blemish check.
3 - High fire (cone 6 to porcelain / bisque) - sand smooth - wash off with alcohol to remove all dust and grease that may be on the doll parts.
4 - With the preparation out of the way the painting can begin and depending on the complexion of the doll and whether it has painted or inset eyes and other issues around artistic interpretation the doll paint firings will be anywhere from a few firing up to a couple of dozen.
Eyes and skin tones in particular are a tricky process which takes layer upon layer (of translucent, fusible on glazes - china paints) to complete the process giving satiny skin tones and glossy clear eyes
Once all the paintwork is finished (requiring firing between each application) attention can then be given to the construction of the doll.
Never underestimate the difficulty and time required to get features painted - probably most difficult are the eye brows, followed by lashes and then lips.
Equally, contours and cheek blush can make or break a doll's appearance. This is truly an art of the whole being way more than the sum of the parts
5 - Eyes, if they are not painted can range from economical plastic “dolly” eyes through acrylics up to top quality, expensive glass eyes. The choice made here must be reflected in the final price of a doll.
Eyes will be carefully aligned and temporarily held with wax which is followed by plaster for permanent fixture.
If the eyes are sleep or flirty - more mechanics, more work, more detail .......
General construction follows and this varies widely depending on the type of body and combination of materials for the limbs - this is why we do classes :)
6 - Hair can be as simple as a well chosen wig and glue in the right places or you can make your own wig by hand or machine wefting - now this ….. this takes forever.
7 - Presentation – outfits and accessories to suit / make each individual little character are then matched with the doll.
The greenware then needs a few days (depending on the weather) to dry out for the first firing
700-800 degrees (Celcius) later the Greenware is "soft fired" (in pottery terms a very low bisque) and ready for further dust free cleaning and tailoring - artists initials are applied at this stage as well. This cleaning stage is done with water and various abrasives (sanders, gloves and brushes).
Back into the kiln for the next round of firing - cone 6 is most common for doll grade porcelains - a cone defines the amount of heat over time and needs to be accurately measured.
Now we have the porcelain (bisque fired to vitrification) blank.
After further sanding, the porcelain dollmaker's work begins.
Here is a description of the steps we apply to make a porcelain (bisque) doll.
1 - Prep slip and pour, set-up and release greenware from mould - modify greenware as required for construction
2 - Soft fire then final seam clean and overall clean polish and blemish check.
3 - High fire (cone 6 to porcelain / bisque) - sand smooth - wash off with alcohol to remove all dust and grease that may be on the doll parts.
4 - With the preparation out of the way the painting can begin and depending on the complexion of the doll and whether it has painted or inset eyes and other issues around artistic interpretation the doll paint firings will be anywhere from a few firing up to a couple of dozen.
Eyes and skin tones in particular are a tricky process which takes layer upon layer (of translucent, fusible on glazes - china paints) to complete the process giving satiny skin tones and glossy clear eyes
Once all the paintwork is finished (requiring firing between each application) attention can then be given to the construction of the doll.
Never underestimate the difficulty and time required to get features painted - probably most difficult are the eye brows, followed by lashes and then lips.
Equally, contours and cheek blush can make or break a doll's appearance. This is truly an art of the whole being way more than the sum of the parts
5 - Eyes, if they are not painted can range from economical plastic “dolly” eyes through acrylics up to top quality, expensive glass eyes. The choice made here must be reflected in the final price of a doll.
Eyes will be carefully aligned and temporarily held with wax which is followed by plaster for permanent fixture.
If the eyes are sleep or flirty - more mechanics, more work, more detail .......
General construction follows and this varies widely depending on the type of body and combination of materials for the limbs - this is why we do classes :)
6 - Hair can be as simple as a well chosen wig and glue in the right places or you can make your own wig by hand or machine wefting - now this ….. this takes forever.
7 - Presentation – outfits and accessories to suit / make each individual little character are then matched with the doll.
