Special Collectors Edition

LE/87 - The Lord Mayor of London -

Senior Robes

Limited to 50 Dolls only - Issued in 1978

The Lord Mayor of London was issued as a Limited Edition of Fifty dolls, made specially for Marshall Fields, (a famous department store), prior to general release (as model B/313), and to commemorate the Lord Mayor’s visit to Chicago, in September 1978.

This is an extremely rare doll, and the identity of the model shown here is not certain.   He is a prototype, but the “new braid” reference on the tag is the reason for the uncertainty surrounding his identity – Which version of the Lord Mayor is he a prototype of?   We do know that the braid on the “Standard” model of the Lord Mayor, (B/313), and the “LE/87”doll were different.   We believe that the LE/87 model had heavier braid, with a “figure of eight” pattern, but in every other respect was identical to its lesser counterpart, and must assume that the doll shown here is a prototype for B/313

From Collectors Supplement 1979, Page 4

Here is the B/313 model of the Lord Mayor.  Notice that this complete model also has a tricorn hat with Ostrich plume. 

(The subject of this photograph may have been a design department prototype for LE/87, (and not B/313 as stated), because of the differing braid)

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