Making Jointed Bodies for Rochard Dolls - A Journey of Discovery, Design and Fabrication

As I would be the one to design and make the bodies, I began research into something I knew little about. Though I may be the "go-to authority" on Rochard dolls and their lenses, I had never really concerned myself with the bodies, dress, etc. I learned that doll bodies were made of various materials throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Those included the aforementioned leather, composition, wood, porcelain, clay, resin and other materials. French Fashion dolls often have jointed bodies that are moveable and poseable. During my research, I was asked to make a doll body for a rare "mignon" doll. A "Mignon" is (or rather was) much like a "Mignonette" but ever so slightly larger. Apparently Mignon dolls are also quite rare having been produced in the 19th century by one firm for a very short period of time (circa 1 year). I was provided a "Mignon" body which was jointed and of composition. It's construction was basically a shell of material formed from paper or fiber covered in resin and gloppy paint (compo) of some description. For this project, I turned to my resin 3d printers for the solution. In any event, the long and the short of it is that I was able to accurately and authentically reproduce this body using resin which is a composition type material. The resin was then painted and the project reached an accurate and successful finish. Most importantly for me is that it was a great learning experience. It prepared me to make our first jointed bodies from resin. The first consideration in the design of a body for Rochard dolls is the ability to successfully see ALL of the microphotographs illustrated in the lens jewels. After all, the fascination of any Rochard doll is the lenses or jewels. Without the ability to visually enjoy the microphotos contained therein, much of the allure of these dolls is immediately lost. As a remedy, the upper body or chest area and the area between the shoulder of the doll redesigned with a cutout section . This allows for the lenses to exist in the breastplate undisturbed. Furthermore this provides an unobstructed view of each lens, allowing all of the available ambient light to easily pass through the window in the back of the porcelain breastplate.

In order to make a doll poseable, The joints need to accurately fit and be combined and connected in such a way that the tension holds the doll in any desired position. Typically, and as was the case with the "Mignon" doll body, elastic cord is used to assemble the dolls body parts. I had learned from the Mignon project that elastic can wear and stretch creating future problems. This is why many dolls need to be "restrung" from time to time. I wondered how this might be better avoided. Wood bodies achieve this to a greater or lesser degree with tenons and pins. Though this was a viable solution, It was not the ideal answer in my mind. I discovered that in the past, there had been a German company that used springs to attach the joints of fashion doll bodies and I was able to acquire one for examination in hopes of better understanding how it functioned. It wasn't perfect in my eyes, but it showed promise and I was convinced that I could improve it to be par for use with the demanding level of the dolls we make.

Now having a plan and a goal, the work of making the first bodies could begin. The first step was to sculpt the model for the body. This was done using digital sculpting programs because the bodies were to be printed with a 3d printer that could print resin and composites. This entails printing from a file just as one would do with any document or photo on a home or office printer. The differences are of course the file type and the printer. Having a good sculpted model, printing and testing of the 15 body parts and the 12 pins that would hold the hooks and attached springs began. We started with the body of our smallest Rochard Doll, 15 1/2" "Julia" Parts were printed, tested, assembled, changed, tweaked, reprinted and so on until everything was correct. These prototype prints were made with inexpensive resin that could never have the strength or longevity of life that a more expensive and long-lasting resin would....but for prototyping and working out the "bugs", such resin was fine. Finally, useable parts were made with strong and durable ABS-like resin which is similar to that used by automobile manufacturers for the plastic knobs, switches, turn signal arms and other parts used in cars. Now having produced working and suitable body parts, pins, and having made the hooks.... spring variables could be calculated and worked out as a starting point. Spring diameter, wire thickness, length, gauge and other characteristics were refined and the development phase ended.

Now that we could repetitively make the parts of each doll at will, the parts could be finished and put together. While I learned about doll bodies, I often found myself often displeased by the colors of some antique and even modern doll bodies. Though common, I did not find it aesthetically pleasing that a beautiful white or eggshell colored porcelain head be attached to a body that seemed to be from another creature. Many doll bodies could best be referred to as orange or pink and they often present with a sheen that is not at all complimentary to the finely detailed and painted bisque head. This led to the decision to match the finish of our doll bodies with a hue that more accurately matches or compliments the porcelain bisque from which we create our dolls. We proudly created two of our satin texture colors that we call "Heirloom Porcelain" & "Porcelain Ivory" which both have a color and patina that add a congruence to our dolls rarely found in other antique, vintage or modern dolls. Each doll body we use is made and adjusted exclusively in our shop from start to finish.