Last Updated: 6/8//02

Modern Wood Dolls (Artists and Manufacturers) T - Z by Jean D. Lotz A Non-Commercial, Educational Resource     Copyright © 1996+ Jean D. Lotz All images are included with the permission of the copyright owners

Irene C. Taylor (deceased ?) - Damariscotta Falls, ME (USA)

"Doll by Renie" photo thanks to Sanders Collection

Irene started carving dolls in 1953. In 1975 she was making charming old-fashioned peg wooden dolls in her own particular style, and had already made at least 300 dolls which were sold throughout the world. These have carved heads with detailed features - not lathe turned type peg woodens.  Her work and methods are featured in the book: "A YANKEE WAY WITH WOOD" by Phyllis Meras 1975. The illustrated doll was marked on the back: "Doll by Renie 13" No. 43". This doll also had a eye hook screwed into the lower back to accommodate a rod type stand. Another collector reports having a doll with the same mark and a paper label that says "Irene C. Taylor, Damariscotta Falls, Maine."

Fred Thompson  - CA (USA)
Fred Thompson is a former NIADA artist (1970-1979). According to his niece via email on 7/30/00, "he is still creating wonderful carved dolls, as well as other things".

Fred has carved most of his life and still enjoys carving. In the book, "The American Doll Artist Vol. II", Helen Bullard states, "Many of the reprimands he earned as a boy came from his spending too much time on wood, carving instead of chopping, rather than his chores."
 

Fred and self-portrait   coming soon Fred's French Bebe

After finding that I had erroneously listed Fred as deceased, Fred wrote this very lively email: "AU Contrair !!!  I am not dead and for the present have no intention of being so. I am still a wood artist and do make dolls [mostly for museums] and advanced collectors. I have made a lot of dolls in the 43 years of doll making and intend to continue. I hope they find me when my time has come, working in my little shop with a doll to be in my hand !! I left the active circle of dolls to accept a commission from Georgette Cravey to create THE LAST SUPPER, SORROW IN THE GARDEN & THE CRUCIFIXION. This work was completed and she re-comissioned (me) to do sixteen carousel animals, many dolls and doll related items. After 20 years with her, I moved away and established my own shop. I still do the AMERICAN CRAFTSMEN which encompasses every conceivable craft in America, Fred's French Bebe's, and special one of a kind direct carved issues. I'm able to keep quite busy although my health is bad and I'm restricted to a wheelchair. I no longer go to shows or compete. The last competition (UFDC) I participated in, five of my dolls were entered and four received blue ribbons. The only reason the fifth doll did not receive a first was that he was entered in the same category. He took a second. Best Regards ..... With Sawdust In My Beard I'm still FRED THOMPSON (6/16/01)"

* Ingeborg Tinius - Santa Maria CA (USA)
web page = http://ingeborgt.tripod.com/

Photo from Ingeborg Tinius

Ingeborg was born in Germany but now lives and carves wood dolls in California. She creates charming ethnic children dolls and Hitty dolls. Her dolls are hand-carved and she makes all of the costumes.

Tasha Tudor - Vermont (USA)
need more information and photos
Yes, this is the famous children's book illustrator. If you read "Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts" you will learn that Tasha has been making wooden dolls and marionettes for her own enjoyment for years. I hope to get a photo of some of her wooden dolls. I fell in love with her goat marionette!

I've tried to contact Tasha - mission impossible. I hope someday she will submit a photo of one of her wooden head dolls or marionettes

Beth Turk -  retired? (USA)
need more information and photos
I would like to learn more about Beth Turk's doll making history and see more of her dolls. I have only seen one of her original dolls sold on at auction and I've seen her really nice Hitty doll in person. Will anyone care to submit photos of her dolls for publishing here?

Beth, please contact me if you want to participate in this non-commercial, educational display of wood doll artists' work.

* Peter & Pat Tyber - Tyber Katz - Sutherlin, OR (USA)
web page = http://www.tyberkatz.com/
 

Tadpole Kitten photo by Tyber Katz

Tyber Katz are editions of lovely cat dolls and kitten dolls, one-of-a-kind Katz & portrait Katz -- a wood doll lover & cat lover's dream come true! Peter carves and Pat paints and costumes. Check out the eyes on these dolls - they look like glass but Pat paints them!  In 1998 Pat stated that they had also started to produce their dolls in resin so they could make a more affordable doll. They are always expanding their product line so they also are offering "cast stone" figures for the garden. It is no surprise to me since I know their second love is gardening. * Pat and Peter were already on the web before I started this gallery - They were supportive from the very beginning - Thanks!

Larry Tycksen - Midvale, UT (USA)

Click on image to see Pinocchio with Gepetto and Jiminy 4" Pinocchio photo thanks to Larry Tycksen

Larry creates dolls with an old-fashioned peg-wooden style and appeal. Many of his dolls are made in the standard doll's house scale. Although the heads of many of Larry's dolls are simple turned shapes with simple applied noses, you can see Larry's carving on his larger dolls such as Hitty, and Gepetto.  Larry Tycksen was inspired by the work of his father-in-law, Sherman Smith. Smith's influence is easily noted in style and proportions of Larry's dolls. He had the opportunity to watch over Sherm as he made some of his little dolls. Yet Larry attempted to make his own wooden dolls only after retiring and long after Sherm's death. Fortunately Sherm left many written accounts of his works and boxes of tiny patterns and tools. Larry has written a Doll Crafter (8/93) article, "Making Jointed Wooden Dolls", and has been featured in a Dolls In Miniature (Winter 92/93) article "The Gepetto of Miniatures: Larry Tycksen".

One auction showed how their doll was signed: carved in back of the doll's neck "VAN VLIET", and on back of doll "VAN VLIET - J + J AYER - MT. SHASTA CA"

One Vliet doll owner stated that she had bought her Vliet dolls directly from the artist and that her doll did not come with a box nor a certificate and they were made in the 1980's.

Is this artist still active?

Kenneth Von Essen (NIADA) - Glendora, CA (USA)
need more information and photos
Ken creates realistic hand-carved one-of-a-kind artist dolls with rich detailed costumes created by his wife.

Traudel von Rothardt -  (Germany)

Fully jointed Fashion Lady example of joints photos thanks to Traudel von Rothardt

Traudel von Rothardt studied art in Stuttgart in 1960-67. She then attended the College of Puppetry in Prague. Traudel had many jobs including a professional puppeteer. In 1976 she began to produce her own puppets. Traudel has displayed her fabulous figures in many galleries, and exhibits in Germany. She won the Max-Oscar-Arnold-Arts Award from the city of Neustadt / Coburg in 1999. Each of her dolls are one-of-a-kind wooden sculptures. Perhaps it is her background in puppetry and her love of the fluid movements inherent in marionettes that inspired Traudel to experiment with jointing to the degree she has. Her fully jointed dolls can assume any reasonable pose. This experimentation is obvious since each of her dolls display different joint combinations. She has experimented with butt joints, hinge joints, hinged ball joints, and swiveling peg joints. She has also used a stacked array of simple joints (each adding a needed movement) to achieve the mobility that she wants in her figures. Traudel has obviously studied antique jointed wooden figures and antique jointed wooden doll bodies. Traudel credits a stay in Peru during 1982-88 for "important impulses for my work with wooden figures and puppets". Perhaps she was able to study some great jointed religious figures during this time.  Her figures also have a peaceful, elegant expression reminiscent of "santos" figures. Traudel opaquely paints her figures like these traditional religious wooden figures and traditional puppets. All this givers her dolls an old-world craftsman quality about them. SAMPLE OF SOME JOINTS TRAUDEL USES: If you study the unpainted figure (shown at left), you will see an array of joints used at the shoulder and the elbow. The shoulder combination consists of a "swiveling peg joint" (a dual motion joint) and a "swiveling butt joint" right below it. This combination allows the arm to lift up (peg joint), swing up and down (internal swivel connector), and swing out (lower swiveling butt joint). She also uses an array at the elbow: a "hinge joint" with a "swiveling butt joint" right below it. She then connects the hand with a "hinge joint" at the wrist.

"I retired 5 years ago, joined the Houma Lou Doll Association and found I was the only one interested in making dolls of wood. My sister, Gabrielle Bethancourt, has made hundreds of gorgeous porcelain originals, and was instrumental in getting me interested in making dolls.

 I have completed four dolls. Two are completely of wood and two have cloth bodies. I make and design all the clothing. I paint the faces, using acrylics. Three dolls earned second place ribbons and one best of original category and a first place ribbon. She is an angel with wings, head and torso carved from one piece of wood. I used tupelo gum. My first doll was of balsa (it was the only wood I had on hand). I have used bass for arms and legs on the other two.

I love the feel of carving wood. I have had trouble finding a source of wood to carve. My sister gave me a couple of decoys she started years ago and never finished. I used one for my angel doll! "

Ethel Washington (deceased) - Alaska (USA)
need more information and more photos
During the 50's, Ethel Washington, a native Alaskan woman from Kotzebue, developed a realistic style of the traditionally skin dressed "Eskimo" wooden dolls. Skin dressed dolls are very authentically dressed in traditional styles using traditional Eskimo material and sewing methods. Early skin dressed dolls functioned as sewing lessons for young girls. "How better to learn to sew skins for your family, but to first sew to keep your doll warm."

Ethel has been referred to as "the mother of modern Alaskan doll makers". Many Alaskan women picked up this style as it became more popular, and it is now a "regional style" within the Inupiaq region of Alaska.

realistic portraits by Ethel Washington photo compliments of Rosalie Whyel Museum of Doll Art

Ethel's dolls had detailed faces rather than the simplified or stylized faces of earlier Eskimo folk dolls. Note the chin tattoo on the illustrated mother doll. See the book: Ethel Washington: The Life and Times of an Eskimo Dollmaker by Basil Calvin Hedrick - 1983.  Fairbanks: Alaska Historical Commission - University of Alaska Press. click here to see a full-length photo of this family of 3

Richmond & Connie Watrous - Seekonk, MA (USA)
need more information and photos

Richmond E. Watrous and his wife, Connie, marketed 12" - 30" dolls and jointed wooden bears under the name of "Trees of Life Workshoppe" and Watrous Originals from 1987 - 1995 (retiring due to a career change). They created fully wooden jointed and strung figures of pine and basswood. Most were oil painted two or more times, with each layer being baked on in a dryer box at a low temperature. They made all the costumes, wigs and leather shoes.

I am not placing Pastor Rich and his wife on the "inactive" list, since they are still greatly interested in wood dolls and puppets, but they are not currently making nor selling dolls.

Margit & Ernst Wechsler - Lake Charlotte, Nova Scotia (CANADA)
need more information and photos
I submitted email via their web page's on-line form, and sent email via their web master, but I have yet to hear anything back. I would like them to contact me for more information and a photo. If they want to participate, then I will post a photo and a link to their web page.

* Hildegard Wegner - Hannover (GERMANY)
 

Insanity photographs thanks to Hildegard Wegner

Hidegard Wegner's wood dolls are very special. They can be described as powerful, intense, emotional, thought provoking sculptures. Her dolls confront you just like a German expressionistic painting screams at you from the canvas. Her dolls don't just stand there - they evoke a viewer response. Her dolls are portraits of emotions: subtle as the melancholy of a clown, or as powerful as desperation, or inner turmoil.  Hildegard has also created a set of life-sized automata that were made for pure entertainment and enjoyment. These "dolls" are totally different from her emotional portraits and they are very technically challenging and exciting. Expect the unexpected in Hildegard's work! More photos: Melancholy Clown - beautiful and sensitive Homeless woman

* Hildegard is very interested in my internet wood doll pages and she even sent me a copy of her book, "Hildegard Wegner - Deprived of Light" by Verlag Puppen and Spielzeug, - all the way from Germany - Wow! Thanks Hildegard!

Helga Weich - (Germany?)
need more information and photos

13" Little Girl photo thanks to Sanders Collection

A collector recently reported this doll artist to me, and stated that she is a wood doll artist and she has been mentioned in Doll Reader, but I have no further information and I have not seen any of her dolls. If you know of any more information or any particular issue of Doll Reader where she is mentioned, please let me know.  The illustrated doll is marked with the artist's symbol (a combination on H and W) and 94/10/02." Jill Sanders collected this charming little girl while on vacation in Germany.

Ruth Campbell (Darcy) Williams (deceased) - (USA)
need a photo (I can accept a collector photo here)

Ruth Williams was a very close friend of NIADA founder, wooden doll artist, and doll art promoter, Helen Bullard. Helen stated that although her friend produced very few wooden dolls, she was very proud of their quality. As friend would do, they inspired each other and collaborated on several dolls together. For example Ruth carved the heads for a set of self-portrait dolls: a likeness of Helen and Ruth at six. Ruth carved the heads and Helen finished the dolls.

In her book "My People in Wood", Helen Bullard describes Darcy, "My old friend, Ruth Campbell Williams, a professional designer, later known as "DARCY", was fascinated by the early "miss Holly" which I sent her, and started a hot discussion by mail which deepened my understanding of my new love (wood carving). She carved elegant dolls from the blanks which I sent her and we grew wildly enthusiastic about our early woodens."

In the book "The American Doll Artist Vol 1", Helen Bullard describes her friend's dolls, "Ruth Campbell Williams carved simplified modern faces and created two elegant impressions of Queen Victoria, one as a young girl and the other as a young Queen after the Chalon portraits. These were done in pearwood, while several litte-girl portrait dolls of distinction were carved in buckeye. Her dolls are all wood, sanded to a smooth finish and jointed."

Darcy is quoted in the 1951 issue of Toy Trader, "For number of years I worked in clay ...... Finally, I rediscovered how rewarding it is to work with wood. It has an almost alive quality; it is pleasant to touch and to smell. There are so many colors and textures to choose from. Your carving does not change after you lay down your knife. Waxing or staining it adds to rather than detracts from the effect desired. It can be sanded to stain smoothness or left with the crisp, sharp knife cuts showing or with a combination of the techniques."

Eric Williamson - (Mid-WALES)
need more information and photos

Santa's workshop use of photo permitted by Theriaults

I found this carved wood Santa workshop photo in a Theriaults auction catalog. It stated that this AUTOMATA was created in 1983. It is carved of limewood and has intricate animation. When the gear is turned, Santa planes the wood forward and back.  The marks (407 83@) incised on the base might indicate that this was the 407th toy in an edition. I would like more information on Eric's work and if he is still making dolls.

Tom Wolfe - West Jefferson, NC (USA)
need more information and photos
Tom and his wife created some typical Wolfe-style caricature dolls and wrote a how-to book on the process.

Yasutaka Morota and Sanshiro Yonenaga - Japan
need more information and photos

bamboo lady

Yasutaka Morota and Sanshiro Yonenaga, two brothers, began to make dolls from Echizen bamboo around 1951 - historical figures, dancing ladies, musicians and monks from local temples.  More about these bamboo dolls - from the Fukui prefecture travel page.