another small character

This morning I attached the arms and legs to this girl. She is made from the 9" Hannah pattern from Gail Wilson. The original dolls have painted heads, hands and feet. My painting skills are abysmal, so I decided I'd try some embroidery instead. The face and hairline are copied from the original, but simplified. The hair is embroidered in fine merino knitting yarn, in thick chain stitch all over. This doll has a different shape than I've ever seen before--in particular, the arm attachment is new to me. The shoulders form points and the open end of the arm is pushed up over the shoulder and sewn on all around. Above the elbows and knees the limbs are stuffed very softly. This helps her to sit well.

This is a great pattern, very clear and detailed. She turned out exactly 9" tall! Although I think her shape is a bit odd, I've come to like it. I especially like how round her head is, not at all like a pancake. Clearly I need to improve my face embroidery. To start with, next time I'll use a single strand of floss instead of double. But she is meant to be somewhat "primitive" and folksy, so I can live with it. Once I get her dressed in calico, I expect she will be right at home. I want to find some kind of bizarre early 19th century name for her. Something biblical...Mehitabel? Zebulah? (wilbs, any suggestions?)

Comments

[Charlotte]

You might want to research a Biblical name and make sure it was a "good" character before you name the doll. Some names which immediately come to my mind are:

Esther, Eve, Jael, Rachel, Leah, Eunice (although she's New Testament), Miriam, Keturah, Abigail.

I think I'd go with Abigail or Esther if she were my doll.

[diana]

Wow, check out the new girl. And, personally, I like Esther.

[grumperina]

Your face embroidery is lovely! I hope you're able to find a nice name for this little gal (and I have no suggestions, sorry!).

[wilbraham]

I think the both the face embroidery and the hair are very good. The doll’s shape ought to work very well once you clothe her.

As for names, I’ve included a short list of possibilities of what seem to be reasonable 19th century Biblically based names. I’ve also given a bit of background on each to obviate any worry about what might be called “ill-starred” names.

Esther may mean “star”, and is undoubtedly a Hebrew form of the Assyrian/Babylonian goddess of love, Ishtar. Esther was a queen & heroine during the Babylonian captivity. Hester is a form of Esther, though it conjures up the scarlet name of Hester Prynne.

Ruth may be derived from “re’uth” meaning friend of companion. Of course, the Biblical Ruth is daughter-in-law of Naomi and is known for her loyalty; she says to Naomi, “…where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge…” The rich landowner, Boaz (not to be confused with the anthropologist, Franz Boas), approves of her loyalty and marries her. David was a descendant of theirs.

Mehitabel or Mehetabel may mean “how good is God”. I couldn’t find this person in the Bible, though the name automatically conjures up the stories of archy, the vers libre cockroach, & mehitabel the cat.

Zebulah, I would guess, is the feminine form of Zebulon, which may mean either “exaltation” or “dwelling”.

Of course there is Zenobia, which is actually Greek and may mean “pertaining to Zeus”. There was a Zenobia who was the queen of Palmyra in the 3rd century. She was no mere tyrant putting in her time, but was a force to be reckoned with in the Eastern Roman Empire of those days, a sort of 3rd century Middle Eastern Elizabeth I. P.G. Wodehouse has a character Zenobia; her nickname is Nobby.

Abigail may mean “father’s joy” or “fountain of joy”. There is an Abigail who became King David’s third wife.

Rebecca may mean “to tie” or “to snare”. It and its variant, Becky, are common names in 19th century literature. In the Bible, she’s Isaac’s wife and the mother of Esau and Jacob. Her granddaughter, Dinah, wrote a best seller called The Red Tent.

Jezebel is a pretty cool name, though it’s got rather bad press in the Bible and ever since. The name actually may mean “chaste”. In 1 Kings, she’s a Phoenician princess who marries King Ahab, who ruled Israel when he wasn’t out chasing white whales. She introduced the worship of Phoenician gods to Israel, something the author of 1 Kings didn’t approve of. From a Phoenician point of view, she may have been considered a martyr. Also, she was very kind to dogs, at least posthumously.

[JBB]

May I suggest any of the daughters of Zelophehad: Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, or Noah (which I guess is a unisex name!). Numbers 36:11.

Here's an 18th cent. Milcah (also the name of Abraham's brother's wife): http://www.psupress.org/books/titles/0-271-01690-6.html