THE IRISH SEER.

Even before I began building my dollhouse, I knew who was going to live in it---an Irish seer. Spiritualism, fortune telling, etc., were all in vogue during the era of my dollhouse and widely practiced not only professionally, but also as hobbies. Table turning (also called Table Tipping), was a fashionable parlor game, and around the turn of the century, Ouija boards began to be produced, as well.

My Irish seer was to be a mysterious practioner of these arts, holding seances and telling fortunes in her parlor. Her name would be Morgaine, and she would be modeled after the Irish goddess Morrigan, whose symbol is the raven.

I scoured the Internet, in search of the perfect doll. But of course, there was none to be found, at which point I decided to commission a doll especially for me and my dollhouse.

During my searching, I had been very impressed with the work of dollmaker Diane Taylor, of La Boheme Dolls. So I e-mailed her and inquired whether she would be willing to undertake the making of Morgaine. Much to my delight, Diane agreed to accept the commission.

There followed a flurry of e-mail exchanges, during the course of which the design of Morgaine was developed. Later, Diane sent fabric samples from which I was able to choose those I wanted to be used for Morgaine's clothing. I also sent Diane some material I had already bought to make the tablecloth for Morgaine's fortune-telling table, so that Diane could match colors that were to be used in Morgaine's parlor.

Little by little, my doll began to be created. It was a fascinating process, with Diane keeping me updated with information and pictures all along the way. Morgaine's pet raven was completed first, and I was so excited to see the photos of it, as it was just what I had imagined.

Finally, there came the day when Morgaine herself was completed. Diane made several pictures of her and uploaded them to La Boheme Dolls. You can see them here, just as I first saw them.

Needless to say, I was thrilled by this beautiful miniature creation---Morgaine is only 5 1/2" tall (which means that in real life, she would stand 5' 6" tall). So, obviously, to work on such a small doll and to make it so outstanding really requires a tremendous amount of skill and talent.

Thank you so much, Diane, for bringing my vision of Morgaine to life for me!

Read: The Dollhouse---Part 3.
Read: The Dollhouse---Part 2.
Read: The Dollhouse.