Chalea

Name: Chalea

Made by and When: Lorna Miller, circa 1990

Material: Cernit head, breastplate, arms, and legs; stuffed brown-cloth body, paint

Marks: (Head) An Indiscernible Symbol /CHALEA / TORIDAN

Height: 18 inches in the seated position

Hair, Eyes, Mouth: Handmade human hair brown wig styled in two asymmetrical pigtails adorned with red ribbons, hand-painted brown eyes with applied individual upper and lower eyelashes, closed mouth

Clothes:  Green print romper, star-shaped earrings, a beaded necklace; Chalea has bare feet.

Other: This one-of-a-kind Cernit clay doll by Lorna Miller (now Lorna Miller Sands) was made under the artist’s 1990s Toridan brand. The name “Toridan” is a combination of her sons’ names, Tori and Daniel. Chalea and other Toridan Originals were precursors to Miller-Sands’ later, highly acclaimed career in silicone “reborn” baby dolls. This exquisitely handcrafted doll has a realistically sculpted face with detailed sculpted hands and feet.

Gallery (Photos and description courtesy of Doll Kingdom US)

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Published by DeeBeeGee

Doll collector, historian, co-founder of the first e-zine devoted to collecting black dolls; author of black-doll reference books, doll blogs, and doll magazine articles.

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