THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, December 10, 1994 TAG: 9412090071
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Column
SOURCE: Larry Maddry
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
VERY FEW of the dolls wind up under a Christmas tree with a little girl's name on the gift tag.
And sales of the dolls are nearly zilch at this time of year.
We are talking top-end-of-the-scale dolls here, made by the doll lady of Pissarro Circle.
Mary Benner, a Virginia Beach housewife, has turned a hobby into an occupation, providing dolls for collectors and fanciers across the country. Most of the purchasers are over 40.
``The people who buy my dolls want perfection,'' she said. ``And that's what I try to give them.''
To walk into her parlor is to witness a nostalgic display of miniature finery. It is as though all the fancy dolls of the 19th century had somehow gathered for a tea party in their fancy hats, fur-trimmed gowns and ribboned pantaloons. They carry parasols or hold hankies, staring blankly at the Victorian screens across the way, as the fragrance of cinnamon fills the house.
Benner's passion for perfection is evident on every doll. The perfectly painted lips, the perfect curls of real hair, the three or four layers of undergarments, each edged in lace.
Let's pause for a moment and look at one of her best sellers. It's a doll named Lady Jane, which has moveable leatherette limbs and glass eyes. The doll is a modern reproduction dressed in a rose-colored taffeta gown. The gown is ornamented with about 100 roses, each hand-made and hand-tied to the lace-trimmed dress.
Lady Jane wears a hat containing a layer of ruffled lace, a layer of ruffled fabric and a layer of pleated fabric, four ostrich feathers, hand-sewn roses and silk flowers, pearls and beads.
The doll sells for $1,300.
Benner was raised on a farm in Maine. ``We couldn't afford dolls like this when I was growing up,'' she said. ``I got dolls for Christmas but my brothers tore them up by the end of the year.''
But she did like dolls. ``I was making doll clothes for paper dolls by the time I was 6 years old,'' she said. ``I've always been a craftsy person. I made all the curtains for our house here and all the bedspreads.''
The hobby that became an occupation began in 1989 when Benner attended a doll-making class in Virginia Beach and was hooked.
Today she is one of a handful of doll makers in the country who not only make and paint the doll bodies but also design and sew the clothes. She uses her home as both studio and workshop.
Making a doll's body and head is a time-consuming process. Liquid porcelain is poured into plaster molds where it hardens. The finished product is known as greenware. The greenware must be cleaned, sanded and then heated in a kiln at 2,350 degrees. After it's painted, the doll must be baked in a kiln to set the paint.
Benner makes two kinds of dolls: antique reproductions and modern reproductions. Of the two, antiques are more difficult.
``It is more meticulous work because the dolls were made a century or more ago and the eyelashes, skin tone, hair and limbs have to meet exact specifications,'' she said.
``Sometimes I see a piece of jewelry I like and simply design the doll's outfit to go with it,'' she said. ``Purchasers of the dolls tell me they sometimes take the jewelry off the dolls temporarily and wear it themselves.''
She produced a doll dressed in green that began with a piece of costume jewelry made of emerald-colored glass stones. The doll wore a green velvet jacket and a dress with a tartan effect. She had given the doll green eyes, too. The doll held a cane with a marionette head atop it that was a likeness of herself. The wand contained a music box that tinkled the tune ``Winter Wonderland.'' Not the sort of thing you'll find in the basement at Macy's. Not all of her dolls sell for more than a thousand dollars. She makes small antique dolls with price tags of $295. And, now and then, she lets a customer do a layaway until they have money.
But odds are the prices of a Benner doll will continue rising. She sells her dolls at doll shows in the major cities and her popularity is increasing.
Her husband, Allen, handles marketing for the dolls. Articles about her creations have already appeared in several doll magazines. And she is now dressing dolls for a network television shopping channel.
``Some customers now buy my works without looking at them,'' she said. ``I just describe the doll on the phone and they say `I want it.' ''
Oddly, Christmas is Benner's least busy time of the year. She exhibits and sells her dolls at major shows in the spring and fall.
``In December I just sit back and relax,'' she said. But she is giving her daughters dolls for Christmas. You can bet they'll be special. ILLUSTRATION: Color staff photo by Bill Tiernan
Mary Benner makes antique and modern reproduction dolls. Some sell
for more than $1,000.
by CNB