Fabulous Rare Norah Wellings 18th Century English Gentleman.

I am so grateful to My Dear Friend  Mark Rochester for sharing these photographs of his Wonderful and Very Rare Norah Wellings Gentry Man .  It is so nice that Mark has allowed me to share him with you and write about a Norah Wellings Doll  that I have not seen come onto the market before or advertised in any of the Norah Wellings catalogues.

Norah Wellings Rare 18th Century English Gentleman standing with a fabulous Old English Nightdress Case Model model 997.

Photograph of Norah Wellings taken at the British Industry Fair in 1935. She is holding the 'Old English' Nightdress Case and the Rare Gentry Man that Mark has in his photograph.



It was in the 1980's that  I first saw this Fabulous Gentleman .  I saw him in a book showing a  photograph of Norah Wellings at her stand at The British Industry Fair in 1935 ( as seen here).  All the information in books written at that time and later described him and his partner as models of George and Martha Washington. You can see why as the resemblance is close to other dolls of the famous American President and his First Lady. The  books and publications were also of American Origin,. I also thought that was who they were. It was not until I started my research on Norah Wellings for my book that I finally found out who they were made  to represent. I wanted to include the photograph in my book so I needed  to check where it originally came from and after many months finally my persistence paid off.
The photograph was featured in the March 1935 Toy Trader and an article accompanying it  describes the two dolls as being modeled on 18th Century English Gentry. Mystery solved,  however I believe not many of these dolls were made , certainly not like the other dolls pictured with them in this photograph.

I still think although not in any catalogues he would have been classed as one of Norah Wellings Norene Dolls. He stands 24 inches tall and has  a felt head with painted features. He does not have any ears as his silk embroidery hair is scooped back to produce his wonderful period hair style of the time. He has a cotton body with felt limbs, fully jointed and his two middle fingers are joined together. Wearing a lovely authentic period desgn felt coat and long felt vest, lace ruffle around his neck and cuffs. His britches are of art silk and he has fine knitted socks with felt shoes.

 Close up of his unusual molded face and the fabulous hair style of this fascinating Norah Wellings Gentry Man.

They are truly a magnificent couple together, I wonder if any collectors reading this have any other Rare Norah Wellings to share. I would love to hear from you, please email me at norahwellingsjournal@gmail.com

A Big Thank You Once Again Mark for sharing him and your lovely 'Old English' Nightdress case.