Saint Nicholas: Father of the Foundling, a primitive Christmas Doll Set

“There is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.”

This is such an impressive set & pictures truly do not do it justice! It is, in one word, breath-taking.

I’m proud to introduce to you Saint Nicholas, Father of the Foundling, and the humble gifts he plans to bestow upon some very special children. This set is my original design and is guaranteed one of a kind! I’ve used no patterns or molds to create any piece of this set.

Santa is a massive doll. Santa is, from head to toe, 34.5″ long. With his hood & wreath on, he measures 36.5″ long. Santa’s rocking horse measures 24″ front to back, stands 17″ inches tall, and is 5″ wide. Santa’s sweet little rag doll is 20.5″ long. All dolls have been made of muslin & stuffed with fiberfill. Santa’s lower torso has been rag-stuffed & bean filled in order to weight his bottom. Santa & his rocking horse have been hand-painted & sanded from top to bottom several times. Santa has been treated to a series of paint washes that give him a beautiful, deeply aged patina. Santa’s rocking horse has been stained to give him a super grungy look. Santa arms are lightly wired allowing him to gently hold special toys.

Santa’s facial features (nose & bottom lip) have been needle sculpted & hand-painted. He has the Kindest pale blue eyes with light green highlights. He has rosy cheeks (as every Santa should), detailed eyebrows & highly detailed wrinkles. Santa’s fingers have been needle sculpted. He sports brown painted & distressed gloves. Santa & his rocking horse have been accented & shaded heavily with oil pastels. They have been sealed top to bottom with clear, glossy sealer so that they may be preserved beautifully over the years & kept a lifetime.

I’ve constructed Santa’s sweet little rocking horse from 7 separate pieces. His legs have been lightly wired for extra stability. Each leg has been attached to the body with several strands of heavy duty button thread. The horse is attached to a 3/4″ plywood base constructed by my father, the wood artist. (I have yet to master the art of the jigsaw!) It has been painted & crackled. The horse is attached with hemp twine that has been sewn through the hoof & then wrapped around the wood base. This sweet horse’s mane & tail is made of raw sheep’s wool that I hand-dyed. It was lightly glued for extra stability & then needle-felted to the horse.
Santa’s super primitive rag doll was made by me so many years ago. She is one of the first dolls I ever made back when I was just seeing if I could make one. She is made from tea-dyed muslin. Her hair is braided raffia. She sports a pink & white flannel dress & a white lacy apron stitched with contrasting pink thread. Both fabrics are vintage. She is topped off with vintage buttons. Her primitive, unfinished look adds to her charm.

Santa’s sturdy boots have been highly detailed & distressed. They feature hand-painted laces. Santa’s bag has been made of high-quality, brown velveteen. It is lined with a sweet green calico & ties with a taupe satin ribbon. Inside it are several packages that have been wrapped in kraft paper & tied with twine & chocolate ribbons.
Santa is gonna stay super warm this year! Santa is wearing an off-white flannel shirt with vintage buttons. It features extensive hand-stitching & was dyed in a coffee & lavender bath. He is also wearing brown corduroy pants (with suspenders) which are hand-gathered above his boots. Santa’s removable robe is made from high-quality, hunter-green velveteen. I hand-finished the inside seams to help keep the “fuzzies” off Santa. I’ve trimmed Santa’s robe brown & camel faux fur. It has been attached by hand.
Santa’s wreath has been hand-made by me. It is only a half-wreath, making it fully adjustable. It has been made from sweet annie, bay leaves & dried rose hips which I plucked out of the woods behind our home.