Gloria's Dolls BKA Massa's Servants Collectibles

Massa's Servants Collectibles, one-of-a-kind, handmade dolls by Gloria Rone

In December 2006, I interviewed Gloria Young, now Gloria Rone and published the interview in Black Doll-E-Zine's online group at Yahoo! Groups.  Throughout the years, I have seen her work steadily progress.  I remain fascinated by Gloria's doll creations that she initially categorized as primitive.  When I think of primitive dolls, however, I think of distorted caricatures, which would not describe Gloria's dolls.  Over nearly the past decade, I have purchased several (seen above) two within the last week (the two seated on the green backdrop on the left and right above). I gathered them all to share with the readers of this blog.

To introduce Gloria, the artist, I have copied the first of the dozen or so questions she was asked for her 2006 profile along with her answer.
  

When and what inspired you to begin making dolls and how long have you been making them?In April of 2000, my father, Edward Young, was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. While visiting him one day at the hospital, he was upset and in a sad mood.  Usually he was the [happy-go]-lucky dad no matter what. I did not realize how much pain he was really in.  I wanted to make him something to cheer him up and put a smile back on his face.  I went home thinking to myself, "Daddy loves looking at my art work. Knowing he loved cowboys and Indians, I decided to make him an Indian doll.  Even though I was an artist all my life, I had no real clue or desire to make dolls.  My dad was an artist, too.  He enjoyed sculpting and making airplanes and canes out of wood that he found during his daily walks.  I went to the local craft store and bought a plastic face mold, beads, feathers, and a piece of leather.  I found a toilet paper roll and used that for the body.  I sat down, plugged in the hot glue gun, and began gluing parts together.  After a few frustrating hours, I had what I called a doll.  I took this doll and gave it to my dad. He laughed and said, "Kid that's cool.  I don't know where I got you from."  Just seeing the smile on my dad's face was enough for me to continue making dolls, and that is what I did.  After he passed away, the nurses told me that my dad carried that doll with him through five back operations.  They said he would say, "Don't forget my dolls."  Dolls have become a big part of my life.  I love this so much.  I have self-taught myself through many trials and tribulations of making dolls and many mistakes.  I have come a long way and still have much to learn.  I have two collections of dolls that I make.  I especially make slavery-style dolls, mammies, cotton pickers, elderly people and children.

Of the dolls by Gloria in my collection, I only own one slavery type, as I do not actively collect that doll genre. I do own examples of one of Gloria's elderly dolls and several children.  The most recent children to arrive are Kamica and Kendra shown below.

Kamica and Kendra, painted cloth dolls by Massa's Servants Collectibles (Gloria Rone) are approximately 15-1/2 and 15-inches tall.

Kamica

With some of Gloria's dolls, she includes a descriptive story about how they "came to life."  Kamica's story is shared below:

When I sat down and cut out her little handmade pattern, I began to see her eyes peeking at me. They were watching me before I even painted them on  (in my head of course… lol).  She demanded that I make her light brown with black long hair.  I did just that.  This doll is so cute... She is made from muslin materials, hand painted features.  She has black yarn hair.  She wears a cute little African print outfit with matching beads made of polymer clay.  She holds her handmade little quilt.  She is approximately 15-1/2 inches long.  

Kendra

Kamica's travel companion, Kendra, has a pillow made from fabric that matches her dress. With Kamica's quilt and Kendra's pillow, I imagine the girls enjoying themselves during a sleepover. The artist's description of Kendra is as follows:   Meet Kendra....She is a hand painted little African doll. She has a cloth body and is painted and sealed. She wears a cute little pillow dress and matching pants. Her hair is black yarn with matching plastic beads. Kendra is 15 inches tall. She is signed by me.


Lou-Ellen (next image below) is the first doll by Gloria to enter the doll family.  She arrived in 2006 with a basket of black berries and hang tag.  She had been listed on eBay where I either won her there or Gloria sold her directly to me after the auction ended without bids.  I saved the auction description and transferred it to an index card that I keep with the doll.  Lou-Ellen, followed by a scan of her story card, are shown below.

Lou-Ellen is a 17-inch oil-painted cloth doll with jointed elbows and knees.

Temperance, Let Freedom Ring

Let Freedom Ring, or Temperance as I refer to her, entered the collection in 2009. Having been purchased on the secondary market, not directly from Gloria, Temperance was first introduced in a President's Day blog post here, where she shares the story I wrote about her.

Laura Larue and her doll

Laura Larue is a 14-inch doll with polymer clay head and hands.  Her body, upper arms, and legs are painted cloth.  She has gray inset eyes.  Mrs. Larue and her doll arrived in April 2012.  Dolly is 5 inches, constructed of painted cloth with hand-painted face and hair of black yarn twists.

Full length photo of Laura Larue, her doll, and two other dolls by Gloria that arrived around the same time.

Laura's mane is red natural textured fibers.  She represents my one and only elderly doll by Gloria. She arrived without a story or I failed to record it.  I imagine the dolly that came with her is her grandchild for whom she is in charge while the parents work.

Friend of Hitty and Dolly

Described by Gloria as a friend of the travel doll Hitty, the above 4-1/2-inch doll and her 2-inch doll are made of polymer clay.  They also arrived in April 2012, as a separate purchase from Laura Larue, and are the smallest dolls in my collection of one-of-a-kind dolls by Gloria.

Gloria has been announcing her new doll creations on Facebook that are also sold through her Etsy store.  Unless I exercise the some much needed constraint, I fear my collection of dolls by Gloria will continue to grow.

dbg

Jaelece's New Pigtail

Jaelece, a polymer clay doll is seen in her original photo from 2010.

Jaelece, an 11-inch folk art doll is made of polymer clay.  She is permanently attached to a vintage alphabet block that bears the first initial of her name.  Kept on a shelf of my personal desk in front of a pencil holder, while reaching for a pen or pencil, I have accidentally bumped Jaelece on more than one occasion causing her to tumble to the desktop or onto the floor.  Recently she fell one time too many causing the tip of one of her pigtails to break.

Jaelece's new pigtail (fatter than the original) has been air dried and ready for painting.

I used air drying clay to fashion another pigtail for her.  After it dried, I painted it as well as the rest of her molded hair.

Jaelece's new pigtail and original ones have been painted.

Jaelece and sister, Patsy

She's ready to be placed back on the shelf with her sister Patsy.  Now, however, to prevent future falls, the pencil holder is in front of the girls.

dbg

I No Longer Buy...

... folk art type dolls and figurines of the sort discussed here, but I was inspired to share a few pieces after reading Ms. Leo's I Normally Would Not....! blog.  In her blog, Ms. Leo shared some folk art type dolls that she found at a thrift store.  I decided to share a few of the ones that I display.

Folk art dolls and figures are on shelves alongside kitchen window above sink.  Close-up shots follow.

Not really a doll, this folk artsy nutcracker stands on the top left shelf alongside the kitchen window.  I love the inscription on her apron:  When in doubt, call your Mother.  She wears my favorite color, peach.

Right side, lower shelf:  A group of ceramic dolls created in the fashion of the 1930s bisque jointed dolls made in Japan (like the two in this image), a resin Aunt Jemima figurine, collectible thimbles, and a marble slice of watermelon (given to me).  I found the Aunt Jemima figurine at a flea market for $12 about 20 years ago.  Before purchasing it, I consulted an antique dealer who encouraged me to return to buy it.  After I did, she tried to buy it from me.  I have never tried to determine its true value, but it must be worth more than I paid because the dealer was pretty persistent in attempting to get me to sell it to her, for the price I paid.  (I don't think so, CM.)  The thimbles are modern replicas of Aunt Jemima, Uncle Ben, and a painted Black "Girl with Doll."  See next image.

I purchased the Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben thimbles to display with the Girl with Doll thimble, which was the one I really wanted.  The girl holding a doll is painted on the thimble.  Both have multiple "Topsy" style braids.   The thimbles were ordered from a Gimbel & Sons catalog during the 1990s.  The ceramic dolls were purchased during my eBay infancy.  Had I known they were poorly made knock-offs, I would have left them where I saw them. 

These are Lizzie High dolls by Ladie & Friends, Inc., 1990s.  Made of unjointed wood, they have sewn-on clothes with trademark blank faces and two dots for eyes.  They are L-R:  Nettie Brown (2nd edition) who "always wears her striped stockings except at Christmas Eve when she hangs them on the mantle... hoping for goodies from Santa..."  The Little One with Basket of Greens #1263 "loves decorating the house, baking cookies, trimming the tree... and opening Christmas gifts that rattle."  The one in back on the far right is Bonita #2012.  She is a school girl who "jumps rope the fastest and is the spelling bee champion... she always shares her lunch."  These descriptions are written on their hang tags.

The folk artsy figure on the left  was purchased years before I began collecting dolls.  I probably ordered it from Gimbel & Sons or from another similar catalog, only because of the plaque "Mama" holds.  My children were young when this was purchased.  I thought it was a cute thing to place on my home office desk along with another wooden apple-shaped trinket that has three numbered apples hanging on a peg that reads:  Mom's busy, take a number.  The smaller thumb sucking figure with blanket on the right is also not jointed.  It came with a one-of-a-kind painted cloth doll to serve as the doll's doll. 

I have a few other folk art dolls and figures, but these are the ones that were readily accessible for this post. 

dbg

Follow my Dolls for Sale blog

Please visit and "Like" The Doll Blogs: When Dolls Speak I Listen