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Who Is Izannah Walker?


Izannah Frankford Walker is a dollmaker who lived in the nineteenth century. She first patented her dollmaking process in 1873, but she may have been making dolls as early as 1840. Her dolls have the look of primitive folk portraits from the mid 1800s.
Born September 25th of 1817, orphaned at seven years old, Izannah and her sisters were raised by relatives in Somerset, Massachusetts, not far from her birthplace of Bristol, Rhode Island. There is not much information about Izannah until later in life, when she is listed as a dollmaker living in Central Falls, Rhode Island as of 1865. In 1873 she applied for a patent for her particular process of making an unbreakable doll. Izannah lived in a way that not many women did in the nineteenth century, if oral tradition about her is accurate. Linda Edward states in Cloth Dolls Ancient to Modern that Izannah "became a skilled carpenter, was active in real estate, raised canaries, designed her own parlor heater, and liked to tinker with household gadgets. Fortunately for us, she also made dolls.

Slideshow of D.Lynne Art Dolls Inspired Izannah Walker Dolls