Making Faces
LE/59 Dona Elvira
The two images above are of LE/59, Dona Elvira, who was part of Special Collectors' Set No. 8, Queen Mary I - "Bloody Mary" (Mary Tudor), limited to only 250 sets worldwide, and issued in 1975. (Dona Elvira was the Spanish Lady-in-Waiting to Katherine of Aragon, mother of Mary Tudor)
The three images below show the actual metal mould used to make the upper body of this doll. The Nisbet factory had a standard doll body, which was made in a metal block split lengthways. The hollowed-out doll-shaped central space was injected with molten plastic, under very high pressure, to produce the doll's body. The head and shoulders could be interchanged to allow different doll (faces) to be moulded as part of the body, but all sharing the same standard lower body form.
P/1005 Lady Diana Spencer
The two images above are of P/1005 Lady Diana Spencer, who was issued as part of the Limited Edition Set LE 19 - "Royal Wedding". (4000 sets were issued in 1981)
The three images below show the actual mould used to make the head and shoulders of this lovely doll - our plain white casting serves to give an indication of the shape hidden in the mould, but it is the painting that brings the doll to life, and gives it character and appeal!