Madame Tussaud Dolls

"The Pageant of History"

Image taken from page 12 of the 1990 Nisbet Dakin Catalogue

Madame Tussaud is known internationally as the world's foremost wax museum, and has always been one of the most popular tourist attractions in Great Britain, (and numerous other places round the world).

In 1990, the House of Nisbet, (by now owned by Dakin), announced on pages 12 and 13 of their catalogue, the introduction of a new range of dolls - "Madame Tussaud's Pageant of History".

The characters in the series were all represented in Madame Tussaud's "Pageant of History" exhibition; the dolls were available internationally, and were also offered for sale at Madame Tussaud's wax museum, in London.

The series comprised 15 dolls :

85-6050 Madame Tussaud 85-6130 Queen Elizabeth I
85-6060 King Henry VIII 85-6140 William Shakespeare
85-6070 Anne Boleyn 85-6150 Mary, Queen of Scots
85-6080 Catherine of Aragon 85-6160 Queen Victoria
85-6090 Jane Seymour 85-6170 King Louis XIV
85-6100 Anne of Cleves 85-6180 Marie Antoinette
85-6110 Catherine Howard 85-6190 Sir Winston Churchill
85-6120 Catherine Parr    

All of the characters in the series were very familiar to Nisbet collectors - the difference being that they were wearing costumes made to be as close as possible to their Tussaud wax counterparts, on display in the "Pageant of History" exhibition

Please note that for the sake of completeness, (and as a temporary measure), we have included low resolution photographs of King Louis XIV and Marie Antoinette in the gallery.  

We have also included scans of the two members of this group we still have to photograph.   They are Queen Victoria, and Sir Winston Churchill.   The scanned images have been taken from page 13 of the Nisbet Dakin catalogue

The doll pictures will auto run as a slide show in the window above.

Press F5 (function key 5 on your keyboard), to re-start the slide shows.

Alternatively, you may control the slideshow manually – follow the steps below :

  • Place the cursor at the bottom of the window to access thumbnail and navigation control bar
  • Click on the “?” (question mark) symbol (bottom left hand side of the control bar) for a detailed explanation of the controls
  • See a full screen slideshow by clicking on the “Square with Arrow” symbol (2nd from right on the control bar)
  • Use the keyboard arrow keys to move forward and back through the slideshow, as desired
  • Use the “ESC” key to leave full screen mode

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