Alexander Girard Dolls

iv> I first saw Alexander Girard dolls in a magazine while in a waiting room.  I jotted down the name and investigated on the Internet later.  I talked about them for months as felt they would be an ideal edition to my mid century collections and loved their whimsy and colour.  I had only ever seen them on the net or in that first magazine before I got my own for Xmas recently.
Ross gave me the first doll of the series and there are 16 altogether.  The dolls are all different sizes and have different characteristics.  They come in a wooden box which is also special.
These dolls are now made by Vitra in Italy but originally they were made by Alexander Girard for his own home.  Alexander or Sandro as he was known, was born in 1907 in New York.  He studied in London and Rome and was an architect and designer in the US.
He was interested in folk art and this was his inspiration when he made these dolls for his home in Sante Fe.
Girard was friendly with Ray and Charles Eames and also with George Nelson.  For years he worked for Herman Miller as Head of the Textile Dept.  Eames furniture was upholstered in the fabric designed by Alexander Girard.  He loved colour and his textiles celebrated this.
Of course the dolls are colourful too and pattern abounds.
I am pretty chuffed to have my own Girard doll and hope over time my collection increases.
In Sydney you can buy them at Space Furniture in O'Riorden St Alexandria.  There are probably other places to buy them  and of course, the net.
My drawings are made with a stick and ink on maps and pages of statistics.  Although the drawings don't include the characteristic colour, I think they do show the doll's amusing character and whimsical nature.