Cover Story

Sylvia Weser

Porcelain Perfection from Sylvia Weser

Lauded as one of the world's best doll artists, Sylvia Weser is widely hailed for her porcelain masterpieces.

By Penny Herbst

Born in 1954 in Silesia, Germany, a region that became part of Poland after World War II, young Sylvia Weser and her family soon moved to a small village near Frankfurt am Main, where she spent her childhood. "From my earliest years, I was fascinated by beauty, music, decorations, and drawing, and painting was one of my favorite artistic activities. I specialized in creating sky-high piles of portraits showing different faces inspired by my fantasies. I was also a passionate collector of creative greeting cards with images of wonderful flowers, beautiful women, historical costumes, and the like."

Contessa Angelina and Contessa Veneziana, 38 inches and 35 inches, respectively, in porcelain. One-of-a-kind pair.

While visiting a flea market one rainy morning in 1986, Sylvia chanced upon two disheveled antique dolls lying carelessly in the wet grass. Struck by their expressive faces, she purchased them immediately. Soon she was looking for other neglected and affordable dolls, and she delighted in restoring them with great love and care. "I reconstructed broken fingers, noses, toes, replacing whatever was necessary and making the repairs with different kinds of materials. It wasn't long before I began to feel strongly that I would like to design and sculpt a doll of my own."

In 1988 she enrolled in a class and studied basic porcelain doll making techniques. She learned by doing and never expected her love of antique dolls would ultimately lead to her highly acclaimed work. Fridolin, a baby boy, was her first effort. She would work for six more years, improving her techniques, before she sold her first doll. She studied the painting and sculpture of Michelangelo as well as works by the old masters. "In my opinion, only porcelain has the translucent surface structure that replicates the detailed transparent look of human skin. Porcelain never changes; its character is forever."

Cosma Shiva, 36 inches, porcelain, one-of-a-kind.

Using only the finest white Limoges porcelain, she begins by sculpting the head and face, a matching shoulder-plate, and the doll's arms and legs out of clay. Next, she builds a separate plaster mold for each piece that must dry for two to three weeks. Then she pours liquid porcelain slip into the plaster molds and high-fires the pieces in a kiln. All of the detail work on the facial features, fingernails, and toenails are done afterward. She has recently developed an arresting technique for painting flowers directly onto the porcelain.

"The painting process is a long and arduous one. I paint each doll in many layers, and, for a dark skin tone, I need up to eight firings just to achieve a natural look," she says. After the correct color is achieved, she focuses on the eyebrows, lashes, lips, cheek blush, and the shadows, which bring out the facial features. "Painting is very important, because it emphasizes the sculpture, and I can make a face appear older or younger by the tone and the intensity of the colors," she says.

Cleopatra, 40 inches seated, porcelain, one-of-a-kind.

Next, she selects the German blown-glass eyes and attaches the lashes. She designs her own custom-made wigs created from European human hair. She sews the limbs and head onto a leather body fashioned over a full skeletal armature. Finally, she adds her signature, as well as the date of completion, on the neck of each of her dolls.

To costume her dolls she draws on her fabric collection. She favors silk brocade, silk chiffon, silk velvet, dupioni silk, and valencienne laces but also uses exclusive new materials for her garments as well. "I collect all kinds of interesting materials, fabrics, and trims while visiting antique markets and auctions all over Europe. I love to bid on vintage rolls of silk tulle in Paris, where I find many of my treasures," she says. She has amassed vintage embroideries, metallic fringe, silk chiffon flowers, buttons, bells, ribbons, tassels, and feathers. "Sometimes I grab parts of old costumes and use the sleeves, belts, or collars for a doll's robe."

An Oriental boy, Sanan, 34 inches seated, has a human-hair wig, paperweight eyes, and holds original cymbals in his hand. Porcelain. Limited to three worldwide.

Today, Sylvia lives and works near Munich, creating her dolls in a home studio with a panoramic view of the outdoors. She completes approximately 10 dolls a year, specializing in very small editions or one-of-a-kind pieces. Firm in her belief that art must be created entirely by the artist, she has no desire to commercialize her work or increase her production. She is inspired by "her own fantasy, a neighbor's child, a smile in a magazine, a photo, an old painting in a book, a pretty girl on a chocolate wrapper, or a beautiful lady pictured on a perfume bottle." No wonder the kinds of dolls she creates are so varied, from elegant children, romantic elves and fairies, and wild gypsies to ethnic and historical figures. Her dolls stand between 16 and 42 inches and range in price from $3800 to $26,000. Several select dealers in the U.S. carry her work, and she also participates in exhibitions in Europe and Russia.

"As the years go by, I have tried to improve the details, the depth of my painting, the expression on my dolls' faces, and the uniqueness of my costuming. I have tried to become more unusual and courageous, offering thought-provoking ethnic sculptures and expanding freely on recurring themes in my work."