Move your mouse cursor over each portrait to display the doll name

All the dolls shown above, (and many more not shown here) are Tower Walk dolls, and one of the earliest Nisbet faces that the collector will find.   (Peggy Nisbet (rather unkindly, we feel), referred to this model as being "Moon Faced").   It had a flattened profile, and high cheekbones, giving these dolls a rather old-fashioned look, but one that we find most attractive.

This was the face used for the earliest Nisbet dolls, (both male and female), and skilful painting could radically change the appearance of the doll's character, as seen in the examples above.

The resin that Tower Walk dolls were cast from cured to a dark grey-blue colour, and so every doll had to be fully painted, before being dressed.   Sometimes, (as in the top row, centre doll), acids used to cure the resin would leach out, and discolour the painted faces, and clothing, and in extreme cases, could also cause materials to rot away.

Our researches suggest that Tower Walk Dolls were manufactured between 1955 and 1958

Move your mouse cursor over each portrait to display the doll name

The 12 dolls shown above all have exactly the same basic moulded face, (referred to by at least one past owner of the Nisbet business - and by many collectors, as the typical "Dolly" face).   This face is the most commonly seen on a Nisbet doll, and is, in our opinion, one of the nicest doll faces in the Nisbet stable.  

These examples show how the colour and shape of the eyes, lips, and eyebrows all combine with the colour of the mohair wig, and various costume details, to give each doll a completely unique identity.   (Note, too the variations seen in the flesh tones of the plastic used to make the dolls)

Our researches suggest that Historical Dolls were manufactured between 1958 and 1988)

Because there are a number of recognisable faces used for Portrait Dolls, we have divided them into family groups, and given each group a convenient name, (which they never had in Peggy Nisbet's day)

TYPE 1 - (The Stern Royal Lady)

This is the face of the Portrait vesion of Catherine Parr, Queen Elizabeth I, Katherine of Aragon, and countless other rather stern Royal ladies, including Dona Elvira, and Anne Boleyn

TYPE 2 - (The Solemn Face)

This face is slightly rounder than the first (Type 1) face, and has the hint of a smile on her lips, (though this can be enhanced or eliminated by the artist's brush).   This face has been used for several of Henry VIII's Wives, including P/604 Jane Seymour, P/606 Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr.   It was also used for P/608 Mary, Queen of Scots, amongst others

TYPE 3 - (The Long Face)

This face has been rather unkindly referred to by at least one collector we know as "A real minger!"   (a Scottish slang term for an unattractive person!).

Sadly, in this case, it may have an historical precedence, for this face is most often encountered as P/605, Anne of Cleves, the fourth wife of Henry VIII.   Although described by a French Ambassador as being "tall and slim, and of middling beauty", Henry was said to have commented that "She is nothing so fair as she has been reported"

This face was also used for H/231 King Henry VII, B/327 Shetland Weaver, and BR/327 The Peat Gatherer