What comes of an Empty Cradle.....

I love this little dollye cradle. It is an antique, c1830s~40s. There was just something about it, I just had to have it when I saw it. It spoke to me

The bottle green paint is fabulous, and it is stenciled on all sides in gold paint~ a star on both the head & the foot..

And the sides each have their own wonderful leaves. I bet these were made with a home made hand cut stencil...

There is just no comparison to the 'age' patina something of years acquires.

It came with its original little hand stitched straw filled tick, and two wee little pillows, all hand stitched in the weensiest of stitches~ with both their matching, removable pillow cases


Here it is in front of my life size real antique cradle, you can see how small it is, made for a very special dollye I'm sure. My cradle is from the late 1840's, early 1850's, and I have joyfully rocked all my little babes in it.

Do you see her??? I just couldn't have an empty cradle HERE! I love my babies...really tho~ ANY babies~ I adore them all. I would love to be the olde lady who lived in a a shoe with hundreds of little ones zooming around....but my favorite time is when they are so sweet and small, so innocent~ just little lumps of cooing Heaven! I had all along decided to make ME a dollye for my cradle, and she was going to have a sweet little white frothy dress on, c1840, to fit just perfect.

And then.........

I was reading and saw a portrait of Elizabeth Freake and her little baby Mary, painted in 1674

I had to make my own little version, so along came my baby Grace

She fits just perfect, and is dressed as a little 17th century baby would be. She is already come out of her swaddling bands

When I was sculpting her, I had my own 4 little babies in mind, all of them at once. I remembered what I adored and cherished most from the very first moment I set eyes on their little faces~ and it was their own little precious black beedy eyes looking up at me.

I blushed Grace's eyes to give them a sort of new, just squished out of the womb sort of look

Baby holds a weensie rattle I made from paper and little rusty bells........and NO, a child cannot choke on little weensie bells if they are being watched like God intended......

Grace wears a little pinned on pilch, or diaper, little reproduction baby shirt, knit stockings with silk garters, gold silk dress, lined bonnet, false sleeves, collar and antique mull bib. I had so much fun making her up, like I was making a layette for a real baby.

She is just 8" tall, and all of her clothes come on and off so I can make her new things as she grows.

I just love my little Baby Grace, can you tell????