Annette Himstedt's 2006 Kinder

By Kathryn Peck

The legend of Atlantis has intrigued scholars for generations. It was described by the Greek philosopher Plato as an almost utopian place of natural beauty, spectacular architecture, and tremendous wealth. Ornate palaces and temples filled the capital city; lavish fountains and picturesque harbors dotted the landscape. The legend also tells of a sudden earthquake that sank Atlantis under the sea.

The prospect of discovering the remnants of the lost city has captured the hearts and minds of explorers and romanticists alike. Books and films retell the story and debate its truth, video games replicate the search for the lost city, and even composer David Arkenstone interpreted this epic tale through musical compositions like “Jewel of the Sea” and “Fire and Water.”

The tale is one of mystery, and it is a tale that helped inspire well-known German doll artist Annette Himstedt’s latest collection: the Atlantis Collection. There are 34 “children” that comprise this collection, and each is uniquely sculpted to depict the expressiveness and eloquence of a real child, all the while capturing the underwater mystique that stems from the fabled story.

“I really wanted to visualize the sunken, mysterious Atlantis for the beholder. I wanted to make it so visible that people would think they could feel it,” says Annette.

According to the story of Annette’s Atlantis Kinder Collection, the children are attending the wedding of Prince Namor and Princess Mera in the mythical city of Atlantis. They are dressed for a festive occasion with decorative head pieces and their most beautiful gowns. The Atlantis Kinder have lightly-colored human-hair wigs with distinctive multi-colored strands of red and blond that characterize what the island people may have looked like. The faces of each child are hand-painted and evoke the innocence and emotion of childhood, and the golden strands in the eyebrows and along the eyelids enhance the magical underwater quality that is evident with each of her children. Their elaborate costumes are exclusively Annette’s, from the hand-dyed, hand-crocheted lace on each beautifully rich gown to the netting and gold-painted shells that accompany each child. To make a Himstedt Kinder is a laborious but captivating process. Unlike so many other doll artists, Annette taught herself everything she knows about doll making. Her love for drawing expanded to three-dimensional stone figures to fabric dolls and on to clay sculpting. From clay she moved on to working with porcelain, which she uses entirely today for modeling.

“I think if you’re self taught, you quickly arrive at your own style, because you never work towards a template or a given technique,” says Annette. “You develop your own technique, and you sure enough make lots of mistakes in the process. However, you learn from all of those mistakes and they help to shape your own individual style.”

Annette’s style is undeniably unique and the brief shelf time for her dolls is testimony in itself that this style is favored by artists and collectors around the world. Annette’s children are highly sought after and each year presents doll collectors with an entirely new theme.

In 2005, she introduced the World’s Children Summit theme, and this year she introduced the Atlantis theme. “Without working out a theme prior to starting, I can’t work,” explains Annette. “The thought process in working on a theme takes about one year, which is then followed by a year of modeling work.” This means that Annette must settle on ideas for future collections, in fact, two years in advance. “The research for each theme is always unbelievably extensive. Most of the inspirations for themes come from within myself. My surroundings do influence me as well, of course, but since I spend most of my time at work, I have to look inside myself for ideas as well as maybe books or films or documentaries about other countries.”

Specifically, the idea for the 2006 Atlantis Collection was suggested to Annette by her daughter, Imke. To complete this particular collection was no easy task. There are approximately 45 people that help in this process, many who have been working with Annette from the beginning. The team is spread across different departments, including casting, assembly, painting, tailoring, and repairs. “The theme of Atlantis was the most difficult one of all the collections I’ve made so far. It started with the faces, the painting, the hairstyles, and of course the clothes.”

A total of 25 heads were modeled for the Atlantis Collection: 16 single-use heads, and 9 double-use heads. Each year her doll parts are modeled exclusively for a particular collection. “I never reuse doll parts from previous collections for a new collection. Everything is strictly and very transparently limited,” says Annette.

All of the children are hand-painted according to Annette’s samples, a feature that is particularly important for those in the Atlantis Collection, as each child features an unusual mother-of-pearl shimmer on their cheeks and golden touches of paint along their eyelids and eyebrows. Annette explained that some collectors prefer the gold and iridescent paint, while other collectors do not. She was consequently faced with the difficult decision of whether or not to include the gold paint. “It is really quite interesting to see how many decide for and how many against this feature. The world of collectors seems evenly split into two camps. One half absolutely wants the gold paint and the other half rather not,” she says.

Ultimately, Annette decided to leave the decision up to the collector. “I’m very glad to have offered my collectors the choice, even though it meant a lot more work logistically for everyone involved.” The faces in the Atlantis Kinder are crafted with exceedingly lifelike features and the credible details of childlike expressions are flawless. “It is very important to me that my ‘children’ look like real living children. But at the same time I like to allow my imagination to run free and realize themes like Atlantis.”

Realism is undoubtedly a trademark of Annette’s work. The detail that goes into each and every face is not only the most difficult task when creating a doll, but it is also Annette’s favorite part when creating a doll. She enjoys instilling character and emotion into each face and notes that her recent collections have lent themselves to more expressive faces than ever before.