I got a link to this company's web site. The interesting thing is that they are here, in Abbotsford, BC, and this is the first I hear of them.
Look at the dolls, they are really quite something, and they are built much like marionettes.
www.xenis.com

Yes... like a marionette, or those little wooden artists' mannequins you can use for figure sketching and working out poses. In the "process" section it almost looks as though the dolls themselves may be mass produced, before being painted and costumed. I wonder if they do the woodworking there, or have farmed it out overseas.

Nice site, Miryana - thanks for linking it. Please let us know if you ever get the chance to visit with them, and learn more about their construction techniques.



Ron G.

very intriguing concept -  - great photos too - thanks, M!
Can't get any of the listed dealer sites to show their product tho ... or how much they cost.
Giving up for now.

Very interesting way of doll making. I wonder how the polymer clay adheres to the wood base face/feet. Does it just harden or is there a low heat baking process that cures it to the wood.
Thanks I loved them...

Billy D.

I didn't think they were using polimer clay, I thought these were all carved.

I understood it to say that the body and head was made of wood... the face, hands and feet were made of polymer clay and hand painted
http://www.xenis.com/2005/fairytale.html
I did'nt check the description of each doll... My question is how does the clay adhere to the wood ? 
Billy D.

We are both correct. Some are made completely carved, some with polimer clay, and it is a real good question how do they do it.
My guess: the wooden head has a flat surface instead of the face, with a nail sticking out, or some other protrusion. They sculpt the clay on the head, then take it off, bake it and glue back to the flat "face" and the protruding part is reinforcing the connection.
At least, that's how I'd do it.
What do you think.

It may also be possible that there is no wood in the hands and feet.  They do not say that it is built over wood simply that they are sculpted of polymer clay.  Since the dolls are jointed it would not be that hard to sculpt the joint into the piece. So perhaps the head has a depression on bottom that the wooden neck fits into and the wrist of the hands are rounded off to fit into a "joint" at the wrist of the wooden arm.  Just guessing here.

I know that this is an old topic, but I was cleaning out my download folder today and realized that I had downloaded the video presentation from this doll company, but never watched it. (D'oh!)

I am definitely not a member of the target market for this product, but I thought that the design process depicted in the video was quite interesting, and I recommend watching the video to everyone here. I have a slow Internet connection personally, but was able to download the highest resolution version of the video to my hard drive for later viewing. The file is nearly 18 MB in size, and took awhile for me to download originally. Here's a direct link to the high-resolution version of the video - I hope that it works for you...

http://www.xenis.com/video/win/Broadband.wmv


Personally I really enjoyed seeing the wood carver talk about working on the bodies of the dolls. Though the end product is concealed under tons of ruffles and lace, the carved wooden bodies are extemely graceful and elegant looking. It was also interesting to see how they used a woodcarving copying machine, (I can't recall it's real name right now), to mechanically carve several copies of the original handcarved pattern at once. I've seen photos and heard of puppetmakers using similar machines to copy handcarved puppet heads and limbs.

It works kind of like a pantograph in drawing, or a keymaking machine, if you're familiar with how those work. This type of device can not only make exact copies, but can also make perfect enlargements or reductions. A similar machine was sometimes used to produce patterns for coins and medallions from much larger prototypes, so that the artists designing them wouldn't have to work on such a tiny scale.

While I was studying the artists' design process on the video today it also struck me that the Xenis dolls reminded me a little of the characters from Disney's Small World attraction at their California and Florida theme parks. A lot of people hate Small World - I can see how it would be saccharine and annoying for some, but I've always loved it. Don't ask me why, but I really do.

 

Ron G.

Thanks Ron, I enjoyed that... I agree with the artist there is a lot of work involved. I love the streamline look of the dolls. They look like little oscars..... Is good to have your expertise back online.
Billy D.