Eva, my oldest doll

This is going to be one of those random, out-of-the-blue posts, one that...actually would the in nicely with a review I've got planned in the future.  My doll for today is not fit for a review for multiple reasons, but I still want to show her off because she has an interesting story.  Meet Eva.

Eva is an old German china-head doll.  Not just porcelain, mind y'all, but honest-to-God glazed china.  See how pale she is?

Eva sports many characteristics of China dolls from her era.  She's ghostly white with heavily rouged cheeks, blue eyes, and short molded black curls.  Not all china dolls had dark hair, but most of the ones I've seen do.

Eva belonged to my great-grandmother (Mama's daddy's mama), and she was...oh, I think she was a ninth birthday present, which would have been in or around 1890.  The last of the china dolls in Eva's style were made around 1940 and were already considered old-fashioned around 1900, and I know for a fact that Eva came along BEFORE 1900, so if my numbers are correct Eva would be around 128 years old.  She appears to be a lowbrow type, further tying her to the later years of china doll production.  The name "Eva" is a name I bestowed upon her, as I have no clue what Great-Grandma called her.

Of course one can't be six score and eight years in age without showing a little wear.  Eva's clothes are faded and tattered, and y'all may or may not have noticed that she's missing her right arm.  That's too bad, because her left arm is awesome.  I've always loved the spoon-shaped arms on these old dolls.

Oh, if only tattered clothes and a missing arm were all of Eva's problems.  But...they're not.  Dig this.

Those are what remains of Eva's legs.  The feet are broken off right above where the boots would've begun, and there's a darkly humorous reason for that.  My great-grandmother apparently had a temper, just like every woman on Mama's side of the family (including my sister and me).  On her birthday Great-Grandma's brother annoyed her somehow, and Great-Grandma...used her new doll as a club and coshed her brother over the head!  Eva's legs broke off and apparently could not be repaired, and that's now why she is a double amputee.

I received Eva shortly after I turned sixteen.  Grandma had kept her carefully stored among some linens, and one day she said "I think you're old enough to have her now."  I kept Eva in a curio cabinet for many years, and now that I'm grown I have a powerful urge to restore her.  My goal is not to make her all-original and desirable for buyers, and thus I have no motive to preserve her worn-out body or her tattered clothes.  I have had no success finding a body, so I'll probably have to make my own.  I have also had no success finding legs that are the right length and size, so I may have to make those as well.  I'd rate my pottery skills at a C+, maybe a B- given my success in making bowls and pots during high school, so I MIGHT be able to cobble together some nice legs.  That leaves the arm.  Removing Eva's current arm will be no challenge due to the weakness of the fabric, but finding a matching one for the right side...that may be a challenge.  I WANT 'EM TO MATCH!!!!!!!!

Some of y'all may be cringing at the idea of me dismantling Great-Grandma's old doll, but I have another reason for it.  Eva's head is not attached to her body.  AT.  ALL.  The only thing holding it onto her body is her tattered blouse, and it won't hold forever.  Breaking this doll's head WOULD be a calamity, one that I doubt I could mend.  To remedy this I'd at the very least have to take Eva's clothes off, but her body is so worn out that I don't see much point in trying to salvage it either...unless it's in better shape than I think it is.  Either way y'all will be seeing more of Eva in the future.  She'll be getting a total overhaul, and I'm looking forward to it!

Kudos,
RagingMoon1987