Pierrot and Pierrette Commedia dell'arte FOGLEBERRY Dolls

A very rare pair of Meissen figurines were the inspiration for this pair of Fogleberry needle-felted dolls. The figures are part of a set that is the key to the mystery in The Affair at the Victory Ball --- one of the first episodes in the Poirot TV show starring David Suchet. The set used features six of the most famous characters from the Commedia dell'arte.

These dolls are based on Pierrot and Pierrette --- the characters who have inspired a lot of well-known clowns and ballerinas. In the TV show, the costumes from the figurines are made into real-life costumes for some of the actors. Those costumes aren't exact replicas from the figurines, though, so these dolls are patterned after both. The picture above shows the dolls and both sets of "models".

Elizabeth and I have admired the set of figurines for years and have tried to figure out a way to make dolls of them. We really wanted to make a set of Minikins, but we couldn't come up with a good way to capture the details of the costumes. Then, I learned how to needle-felt. Wow! Perfect. This technique was really the way to go. It was the masks that really made them fun. Pierrot even has his trademark tear. We've talked about making a Scaramouche doll in the future, so that's on a "back burner". 

I took artistic liberty with portions of the dolls, particularly with Pierrette's hat. I just thought that she needed a real French beret instead of the little flat. Making these dolls was very enjoyable, and they are the only ones that I've ever done as a matched set. Be sure to check them out in our Etsy store (use the link at the top of this page) --- and you'll be able to see more pictures in the listing. Thanks for looking!