Austenesque Birthday Gifts!

August 25, 2010 • Blog Updates • 9 Comments

Last week was my birthday, August 16th, the same day as Georgette Heyer!  And on my birthday I received some beautiful Austenesque gifts from my darling mother that I would like to share with you…

But first, a word about my wonderful mother.  Although she is not an Austen Addict like myself, she has always been the most supportive of my passionate interest in all things Austen.  She is always treating me to Austenesque novels from my Amazon wishlist and is ever willing to watch Austen adaptions with me.  This year though, mom didn’t go to my wishlist for gift ideas.  One she made herself and the other she had specially made for me!

My first gift was this beautiful Regency Doll from Up All Night Studio.  I named my doll “Lady Eleanor” in honor of my grandmother whose name was Eleanor. Lady Eleanor was custom handmade by the talented people at Up All Night Studio who specialize in making Regency and late 18th century dolls.  She is beautifully attired in a black printed frock with burgundy, gold, and green.  Her eyes are brown and her hair is black.

 

 

from Up All Night Studio:

“These reproductions are typical of dolls found in European and American households in the early 1800’s or in England during the Regency Period. Head, hands and feet are constructed of a durable composition clay. The primitive body is made of muslin. The entire doll has been treated to a stained and antiqued finish. Hands and feet are attached with ecru ribbon, the arms are unstuffed and attached to the dress separately. All clay parts on the doll are hand sculpted using no molds. ”

Lady Eleanor has found herself a happy home on my bookcase, sitting amongst my Austen novels.
 

My second gift was a collection of C. E. Brock Illustrations from Jane Austen’s Emma.  These lovely watercolor illustrations have been reproduced on fabric.  My mom found them some time ago on ebay.com and snatched them up.  She bought the frames separately and placed a scene in each frame.  Scenes included in this collection are:

– “She absolutely refused to allow me”
– “Jane Fairfax!–Good God! You are not serious?”
– “my dearest, most beloved Emma–tell me at once”
– “I see very few pearls in the room except mine”
– There was no longer a want of subject
– “I planned the match from that hour”

*To view these illustrations for yourself you can visit mollands.net

I found a spot for these frames on a wall in my piano studio/office in our home and did my best to hang them evenly!  My brother, who is the master of precision, will of course find something to criticize about it though!  I should have waited for him to come over and do it for me.

Now I ask you, do I not have a most excellent mother?

~~~

Disclaimer: The Amazon links used in this post are affiliate links. 

9 comments

  2. Such lovely presents! I really like the doll and am seriously thinking about ordering one.

    I don’t think that I have posted before, but I really enjoy your blog and have gotten some great recommendation from it.

    Happy — belated — birthday!
    Kelly

    Reply

  6. I particularly like the Emma illustrations–beautifully rendered and perfectly hung.

    Happy Birthday–sounds like your mother is perfect in every way 🙂

    Reply

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