inter behind us, we are now in our busiest time of the year standing at the large summer fairs.  All we need is the summer weather!

Although we are going through a very difficult time economically in the UK, I am pleased to say that the fairs are still well supported.

New Category Added - Half Dolls

www.carano.co.uk/halfdolls 

At the beginning of the twentieth century, clothing was still mainly being made at home and young women were expected to learn how to sew and progress to being proficient in dressmaking.

Half dolls were produced by many of the major porcelain manufacturers of the time to help entice the young women to sew.  Production continued until the onset of World War II when it stopped as workers were needed in the war effort and half dolls were considered trivial.

The making of half dolls falls into three main categories:

1. The dolls that are made in two-piece moulds with their hands and arms close to their bodies, with no openings between the body and any protrusions.
2. More complicated to produce were the dolls posed so that one or both arms are away from the body and returning back to the body.  A common stance in this category is where one hand is on the hip or head.
3. The most difficult to produce were the dolls with "arms away", as they are commonly referred to, as the arms were cast in separate moulds and then fastened onto the unfired clay.

 Although the production of these half dolls was quite prolific, large numbers of them have been broken or thrown away over the years.  The first class dolls with delicate features such as tiny roses are scarce in an undamaged or restored state so are highly collectable.

As time goes on, many more will likely be damaged so it could be an investment to buy a good quality one, wrap it up well, and put it away for the future.

Lorna Bailey has shut her factory and closed her business so watch out for her earlier products starting to rise in value.

eBay has been ordered to pay Hermes 20,000 Euro for allowing counterfeit Hermes handbags to be sold on their site.  Could this be the start of many such fines for fake goods being sold as genuine articles?

Have a look at our diary and come and see us if you can.  Happy summer holidays!