Now I've been wondering how many of you, if any, have one of these little cutie pies? They are called Wichtels, which is German for gnomes.
They were designed by the German artist Rosemarie Müller, who describes her gnomes as "balm for the soul". These adorable little ones have the most enchanting faces which are hand painted, full hard vinyl bodies, hand-knotted real hair wigs, and stunning hand blown solid glass eyes from Lauscha.
In this photo we have Heidi (formally Lea) and Gretel (formally Rosi). They are delightful little dolls and so much fun to photograph even though they have only five points of articulation. Both dolls are wearing their original costuming, which is extremely well made and far too cute to replace.
Gretel has a passion for teddy bears (I made this one especially for her) she says they are nice to cuddle and likes to carry one around with her all the time.
Are you a fan of names inspired by fairytales and story books? If so, you may recognise Gretel, from the fairytale Hansel & Gretel made popular by the Brothers Grimm. The name ultimately stems from Margaret meaning “pearl.”
Heidi, with its sweet meaning of “noble and kind,” is a pet form of the German name Adelheid. Heidi is also the name of a classic children’s novel about a spirited little girl living in the Swiss alps with her grandfather.
For a long time I only had the two Wichtels, however, as I prefer to have uneven numbers of dolls I pre-ordered Fiona some time back and she arrived recently.
As I wanted these dolls to have names of a similar vein, I decided to rename her Liesel, which is related to the Hebrew names Elisa and Elizabeth and the German name Liesl. The meaning of Liesel/Liesl is "God's promise." The name was used for the character Liesel Meminger in the novel The Book Thief, and Liesl Von Trapp, the dreamy-eyed eldest daughter who featured in The Sound of Music.
Cute girls. I don't have any, I haven't seen them in bloggers from Polish. Have a great April.
ReplyDeleteThank you Magdalena, you will probably see more of them on German blogs. You too!
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You are so right about that, the year feels so old already and I don't know how that happened. The Wichtel are a fun little bunch, they look so adorably mischieveous.
ReplyDeleteI think it has something to do with out age Mia, the older we get the quicker time flies by. I love these dolls, but they are quite expensive compared to other small vinyl dolls. Still they do make me happy when I look at them.
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These dolls are fascinating. They're not part of my collection, but I love admiring your doll photos. They're wonderful. It's so adorable that the dolls have teeth. The spring background in the photos is beautiful💗
ReplyDeleteThank you Inesa, I am pleased you receive some enjoyment from them. When it comes to a toothy grin I melt everytime. LOL! The background is a backdrop.
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I love the Wichtel dolls and at one time had about seven including one of the slightly larger ones. But after a few years, fickle doll mum that I am, I sold all but the larger one, who I kept for a few more years until she went. I wish I had kept the bigger one, she had the laughing face like yours but with lovely black hair and she always made me smile when I saw her
ReplyDeleteHi Dee!
DeleteI think we all go through different stages of doll collecting and I also think we look at downsizing when space becomes a premium. I would love to get one of the nine jointed ones that Rosemarie does but I've been too scared to ask the price. Do you have any photos of your larger one? I'd love to see her.
Big hugs,
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