Bath at Work Oct.qxp_Layout 1 22/09/2015 14:25 Page 2
BATH @ WORK
Our series of photographic portraits by Neill Menneer shows Bath people at work. View a gallery of Bath@Work subjects at: thebathmag.co.uk
Lynne Roche Doll maker
I
came to Bath with my husband Michael in 1979. Initially we were looking for a place in the countryside but in those days rural houses were more expensive than town houses so we found a place on the London Road. I had graduated from Camberwell Art school where I studied painting and Michael was a furniture restorer. We opened a shop in Walcot Street in 1980 called The China Doll from which we sold antique and collectable dolls. These were often German or French dolls and (when we could get them!) from the two famous French manufacturers Jumeau and Bru who made exquisite porcelain dolls. The English had never really made porcelain dolls, but in earlier times they did make fabulous wooden and then wax dolls. We used to buy ‘cracked’ rare dolls in Paris and we could use these heads to make moulds of our own. There was a good market for these reproductions in the 80s. This then soon led to the making of our own dolls from scratch. Michael’s woodworking skills and my background in art and textiles allowed us to make and dress original articulated dolls that we sold worldwide. We model the heads out of a soft flexible medium and then make moulds from which we make the porcelain heads. Michael makes the wooden bodies by hand. Each face is painted individually so each doll is totally unique. Their outfits and wigs are dressed in my own designs, often referring to the 50s classic styles. We only make a few heads per year but each doll will have two or three outfits and typically sell in editions of 20. We also do special dolls, so this year, to celebrate 35 years, we are relaunching Lillian who played a big part in our 25th anniversary. We even went to Venice with her for a photoshoot! We’re now based in Lansdown. We love being in Bath. It is one of the few cities to have such harmonious architecture (apart from a few sad exceptions). As well as its glorious history it is also a vibrant modern city with so much going on. I now run the Bath Textile Summer School, which is in its third year. For 2016 specialists like Jenny Adin Christie, (Raised Embroidery) Nikki Wepener (Classic corsets), Becky Adams ((Concertina Fabric Books), Jan Beaney and Jean Littlejohn (Hidden Depths) share their expertise with enthusiasts from around the world. They teach a range of techniques from stump work (17th century raised embroidery), applique, silk painting and canvas work. The events, which take place at the Holburne Museum and Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution in Queen Square, have proved enormously popular (we’re taking bookings for 2016 now!). It’s been a wonderfully exciting career and we are proud of the fact that our dolls can be found in The V and A Museum of Childhood, and in Paris at the Musee des Arts Decoratifs. Somebody once asked the question whether our dolls could have been made in London. Probably not as there’s something about them that evokes the world of Jane Austen and the timeless classic character of the city where they were born! Visit: roche-dolls.co.uk and find out more: bathtextilesummerschool.co.uk. n
PORTRAIT: Neill Menneer at Spirit Photographic. Visit: capturethespirit.co.uk, tel: 01225 483151. WWW.THEBATHMAG.CO.UK
OCTOBER 2015
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ThEBATHMagazinE 57