Ruth Treffeisen's views

"I wish to express moods and feelings through my dolls,
to create a colorful world of warmth and harmony
and to bring back dreams of the childhood."

Watching children inspires me for the designs of my dolls. Particularly I find all the various aspects of doll-making fascinating: modelling various well-proportioned heads and limbs; transforming my models, working on porcelain/china and painting with soft Chinese colours as well as matching various textiles for the design of specific clothing and hand-knitted silk socks.

At school my artistic and creative talent was noticed and especially promoted by Madame Lasselin at the Ecole des Filles, Saulzoir, France. An apprenticeship at a hat shop and a tailor's shop provided me with the necessary millinery and tailoring knowledge. Childhood memories of the post-war era, today's sober reality and early retirement from my profession, due to health problems - all these facts have awaken my desires and inspired me to create some beautiful and tender things. Through long arduous experiments with various materials, as well as porcelain/china and vinyl, I finally acquired the techniques of doll-making.

Each of my porcelain dolls is passionately hand-crafted in my studio. I do all important steps of the porcelain work myself. In order to give preference to the valuable materials and superior quality of the tailoring, the clothing are consciously kept simple. The handmade socks of all dolls are of finest cotton in different patterns. The bodices of Snow White are exquisite – each with individual handmade embroideries of real pearls, garnets, silver and silk threads.

I only use the best genuine hair or mohair wigs, to emphasize the faces and types of my dolls. The eyes are either crystal or vinyl, whichever fits better to the dolls character. The jewelry in gold, silver, pearls and real stones are especially hand-crafted for Treffeisen’s dolls. The heads and shoulder plates are adjusted with moveable joints, which enables different expressions and settings – just try it.

I design my own models for hats and shoes – which guarantee their uniqueness and exclusivity. Ruth Treffeisen’s hats are of finest sisal and mohair felt cheroots. This is the basic of all my accessories such as Teddies, bunnies or bags.

Due to exclusive use of natural materials and to hand-crafting there can be some small differences in form and colour of the dolls and accessories – sometimes on purpose. Even my fabric suppliers do not guarantee a constant shade of the colours. All these factors contribute to the individual characters – which make each of my porcelain dolls unique.

I sign all my dolls personally and number every series myself. All my dolls and accessories are designed and accomplished in Wiggensbach, Germany.

I wish you lots of fun with my dolls!

Ruth Treffeisen