Jay of Dublin
Jay of Dublin made dolls that were very much in the tradition of Shallowpool dolls.
They were 8" tall, with a hand-painted plaster face, felt hands, and a padded cloth body supported on a wire frame or armature. The faces are particularly interesting, being cleverly modelled, and and beautifully painted. Each doll had a red "book" tag, with the words, "Collectors Character Doll handmade by "Jay" of Dublin" tied to its left wrist.
One distinguishing feature that set them apart from Nisbet dolls was that they were nearly always mounted on a square wooden base.
As far as we can determine, the characters were all drawn from the counties of Ireland, and depicted the diverse inhabitants and their equally diverse occupations.
These wonderfully varied and interesting dolls can be found at numerous websites on the internet, and while we can offer a few poor quality images here, a quick websearch will reveal a treasure trove of pictures for further study.
Jay dolls are beautifully charming creations, with character and personality, and should the Nisbet collector find one in their collection, we think that they should treasure it!
News
21st September 2023
Important Announcement
My dear wife, Christine, passed away on the 8th December, 2021, after 8 weeks in hospital. I was by her side, when she slipped away from me peacefully, with no pain or suffering.
Chris had been struggling with a slow decline in health, associated with a progressive, untreatable, and ultimately terminal lung disease, and finally succumbed to her old adversary, Pneumonia.
We had been friends for 55 years, together as a couple for 50 years, and married just a month short of 48 years, when she died.
This website was Chris's idea, and I did all the technical stuff, to make it work. After news of Chris's passing reached her close friends in the doll collecting world, I was deeply touched and gratified to hear their tributes to my dear wife, and I must thank them all for their kindness and support. Ultimately, it was her doll friends that gave me the courage to continue with the website.
In the months before her eventual hospitalisation, Chris had outlined a number of additions and changes she wanted to make to the website, and it is my intention to honour those wishes, and to implement the changes we had considered, over the coming weeks and months.
I must apologise to all those who have written to us via the website, only to have your emails go unanswered. Unfortunately, the email system had been hacked aroung the time Chris was going into hospital, and many emails must have been lost, as a result.
As you might imagine, I felt completely broken by Chris's loss, and it is only now, almost 22 months after her passing, that I have felt strong enough to even look at the website again.
My aim is to continue with the website, and to implement Chris's aims for her many new ideas as soon as I can. In the meantime, I have hopefully got the email system sorted out, and I will attempt to answer any enquiries as soon as I can, and to send replies with the same high degree of accuracy that a reply from Chris would have had.
From now on, I will be flying solo, whilst my co-pilot and guide will be soaring much higher, (though she is always in my heart, and in my thoughts).
My thanks to all our website visitors for your continued support
Dave (also known as Arthur), and Chris, (my lost love, Guinevere)
Christine Poulten
25th December 1949 - 8th December 2021
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