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| Circa 1950s 13-1/2-inch doll marked Athena and tagged Fata Milano as seen in the seller's photo |
I saw this doll on eBay with a beginning bid of $9.99. I thought she would be a perfect addition to my collection of
1950s brown-skinned dolls from Italy. The seller's description disclosed a few flaws.
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| This doll arrived with an open area in the stomach that might have originally housed a voice box. |
The seller disclosed and photographed the doll's missing tummy cover, as illustrated in my picture above. This can be covered with cloth or left as-is since the dress covers it, was my initial thought before bidding on the auction.
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| An ugly burn area on one leg was the other flaw the seller described. |
The seller described a burn area on the back of one leg. I reviewed the auction pictures, but this flaw was not included in the auction photographs. I asked the seller if a photo of the burn was available and one was added to the auction photos. This might have staved off other bidders. I thought I could remedy this and decided to bid anyway.
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| The tip of the doll's left index finger was missing upon arrival. |
The tip of one finger was a third flaw the seller described in the item description. This was still not a problem for me as I have repaired missing fingers in the past.
What the seller did not describe and what was not readily visible in the auction photos was the fact that the doll's flirty eyes did not have any pupils!
I opened the doll's shipping box in a dimly lit room and did not discover the missing pupils until I entered my well-lit doll room where it was starkly apparent that the pupils were missing. I thought they had fallen out after the doll arrived (because of the time it took for me to discover the flaw—thinking they fell while I walked with the doll from one room to another). I retraced my steps and checked the shipping box. There were no pupils anywhere. When I reviewed the seller's auction pictures, I realized the doll did not have pupils when she arrived.
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| This picture and the next two illustrate the doll's pupil-less eyes. |
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| Scary, right? |
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| In addition to the missing pupils, this photo illustrates a couple of areas of missing facial paint. |
I sent a message to the seller along with a close-up photograph of the doll to inquire if the seller knew the pupils were missing. The next morning, I read a reply from the seller stating that s/he was more fascinated by the flirty-eye function and did not notice the missing pupils. The seller asked if I wanted a refund. Before I could reply, a full refund had already been issued to include the shipping cost.
My restoration attempt ensued immediately. First, I created pupils using air-hardening clay. I inserted the clay pupils into the eye sockets temporarily to check the fit.
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| Before painting, clay pupils were inserted into the eye sockets temporarily. |
After removing the pupils from the sockets, I inserted a toothpick underneath each to use as a handle while each pupil was painted. After painting, the opposite ends of the toothpicks were inserted into a make-up sponge to hold the pupils in place while they dried.
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| After the painted pupils dried, matte varnish was applied and allowed to dry. |
While the pupils dried, I worked on the leg burn and several other undisclosed flaws the doll had upon arrival. First I painted the missing areas of facial paint, which is illustrated in the final close-up photo.
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| The burn area has been sanded. |
I smoothed the burn area with a sanding sponge before painting that area with brown acrylic paint as illustrated above and in the next photo.
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| The previously burned area has been sanded and painted. (Before painting this area, red felt was added to the bottom of the sandals as illustrated next). |
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| Missing sandal sole |
The brown cardboard sole of one sandal was missing as illustrated above.
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| I replaced the cardboard sole of one sandal and red felt now covers the sole of the other sandal. |
I fashioned a sandal sole using a cereal box. The sole was glued to the doll's right foot and held in place with rubber bands until the glue dried. Glued-on red felt now covers the bottom of both soles.
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| Brown cord trim |
To trim the sandals, brown cord was glued around the sides between the feet and the sandal soles as illustrated above.
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| Air-hardening clay was used to create a new fingertip. |
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| To hold the new fingertip in place, I extended the clay to the palmar surface of the hand. |
As shown above, the fingertip was repaired using air-hardening clay. Unfortunately, I did not smooth the edges of the clay that meets the existing finger stump. This left a hump on the dorsal surface of the finger. (She'll hold dry flowers to camouflage this area.)
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| The new fingertip was painted with brown acrylic paint and red paint for the fingernail. |
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| The new fingertip doesn't look too bad from this angle. |
The last things she needed were her new pupils. I removed the toothpicks that were holding the pupils as they dried and placed a dab of Aleene's Tacky Glue underneath each, one by one, before carefully inserting the pupils into the eye sockets. The final results are illustrated next. By the way, Aleene's Tacky Glue was used for all other areas that required glue
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| This flirty-eyed girl now has pupils and the missing areas of facial paint have been repainted. (She has eyelashes that are not visible, unfortunately, until she is laid flat. Flirty eyes tend to sink into the eye sockets and conceal the eyelashes as a result.) |
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| With a turn of her head or body the eyes move to either side. |
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| She has a beautiful face. |
I am in no way an expert at painting dolls' eyes. In fact, this is my first attempt at creating and painting pupils. I am relatively pleased with the results. At least she doesn't look as scary as before.
Before and After:
Yes, I think she looks much better. Her sisters think so, too.
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| From L-R and back-to-front are a 17-inch flirty-eyed doll with blue eyes by Samco, another 17-inch blue-eyed unmarked doll, Furga's 16-inch Hula Doll from 1957, a 13-inch unmarked doll with blue eyes, and the newest 1950s Athena-marked doll made by Fata of Milano, Italy (or Milan, Italy). |
Not shown but also displayed with these dolls, made by Levia of Milan, Italy is another 1950s, flirty-eyed brown-skinned doll. See her
here.
About This Doll
Made of hard plastic, the doll stands 13-1/2 inches tall, is marked ATHENA on the nape of the neck, and there is a capital A in the upper center of the back. The original pupils of the flirty sleep eyes might have been brown or blue. Bristle eyelashes are attached to the eyelids but are not visible when the eyes are open. Except for the eye sockets, the head cavity is completely closed. The black shoulder-length hair is a wig. There are remnants of flowers that were at the top of the head, which is typical for dolls like this made in Italy during the 1950s. Original gold-tone hoop earrings are attached to the hair (not the ears). The satin two-piece halter-top and short pants are original as are the remnants of red and gold thread that form the top of the doll's original sandals.
An image of a gold crown is on the paper tag stapled to the doll's dress. The stacked words FATA MILANO are underneath the crown. The back of the tag is visible underneath the garment and reads:
Tipo FINE
No 32
Mod ___
Made in Italy
The Doll Reference website has a better illustration of the Fata tag
here. The Doll Reference site states, "Fata Doll Factory Milano, Italy 1929 to late 1960s - dolls are unmarked, had a paper tag stapled to clothing." My doll, however, is marked ATHENA. From this, I gather that the Fata doll factory of Milano, Italy used Athena dolls to manufacture this doll.
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There are countless items to collect and write about. Black dolls chose me.
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