Antique Izannah Walker Doll

Recently I bought an antique Izannah Walker Doll. I had tried in the past, a couple of times to bid on one on ebay, but missed out, so when this doll came up, I decided to invest in the doll for several reasons. I wanted one, plus,  I wanted to see a antique one up close and personal. This is what I would call a very standard Izannah Walker doll. She is about 18 1/2 inches tall. dainty and in very good condition. I made pictures, some are not really clear enough, but I wanted to show various parts of her that I saw, that I needed to change in my own doll making. One of the worst things about this doll is the overpainting on the hair someone did to her in the back of her neck. The person I got the doll from stated that the doll had belonged to her mother and that she had,  had her for 50 years. So the old painting was done long ago, so we will never know what her neck line really looked like. In time, I might try to see about taking off the old paint at the base of her neck only, as it is really bad now. there are no other changes that need to be made. Her side curls are really beautiful and I hope will be a help to me in trying to make them on my own dolls. This has been a difficult thing for me to do all along, is the curl making. The other area that has, ( you might say ) damage,  is the skin at the back of her shoulder plate. It is stitched and looks stretched a little. Someone had to sew her up a little in the past. Who knows what her doll life has been through so many years. I will make her some new clothes, as the things she came to me wearing were not what I thought she needed or what I think will be pretty on her. I have to tell you, that buying this doll was a huge decision, because of the large amount of money, and also I wondered if she would really help me in the doll making in the end. I have other old antique cloth dolls, and even though you see them close up, that is not a guarantee that you can duplicate them. After examining her, which ( by the way) I discovered her upper legs feel sort of crunchy, like dried grass or something, I see a few things which I can improve on while trying to make dolls like her, not a reproduction of her. I am proud I got her. I do feel a kinship to Izannah Walkers family as I know they made her and I am looking at one of Izannah's own dolls she made. Appreciated and well cared for, she will be,  and included in my small cloth doll collection which I use and pick up and look at and pet constantly while making other dolls. I have to get busy now to try to make some dolls to help pay back my debt to my husband for buying her. He was generous and supportive of me in doing this. I hope you  enjoy seeing her and it helps you. She doesn't have a name, as her former owner said she didn't ever hear her mother call her by name. In due course, I will give her a good name.