Dolls based off/in tribute to loved ones who have passed away?

I dont find it creepy or disrespectful i guess its a bit understanding because it helps the person to cope if someone close to me died id probleh try to find something to cope with and who knows maybe makeing a doll after that person would help me people cope in diffrent ways with death and if this is one of there ways i dont see anything wrong with it.

 

What Linakauno and Cinnibunny said. My Mum died ten years ago too, and I'm kinda still coming to terms with it and whilst I'm not making a doll of her I think for some people, it helps them to greive properly. I grieved as much for my Leopard Geckos as I did for my Mum, to me they were my babies, my family and my rocks when I had no one else to turn to, so I don't really get the whole "animals are different" thing xD

 

My best friend died about 5 and half years ago, and it was the worst pain I've ever felt. I still miss him, but I know he's still around in spirit.

My BlueFairy Tommy is named Matt after him. He's NOT exactly like him, not really even based on him. There are similarities, as they are both on the smaller side, both into theater.....but also very different. My friend was a gamer/comic book nerd, brown hair, brown eyes, kind of a smartass...lol and the doll is preppy, blond, hazel eyed and very sweet. (not that my friend wasn't, just not sugary so) So...it's kind of like keeping a very small piece of my friend alive without making the doll an actual copy of him.

On topic of pets, after Happy, my Jack Russell terrier, passed away, I thought long and hard about getting an anthro or Obitsu dog in honor of her, but didn't. I just couldn't find a cute doggie sculpt I liked enough to represent her, or that looked enough like her.

For living people, Loki's personality is kind of a mix between myself and my husband and he has the same middle name as my husband (Edward), but he's not HIM. Oh, and my mom is convinced Ashley looks just like a guy I used to work with, but he's really not modelled after him at all. lol

 

I do not find it creepy at all. Apart from being a way to cope with the loss, it also has a meaningful function. In connection to the thread about the existence of dolls' soul, although I don't believe dolls have a soul on their own, I still think that they acquire all the time, the affection, and the cure their owners gave them, so having a doll related somehow (even only for the name) to someone who is not with us anymore would be a way to preserve a part of him/her here.

 

I saw an anthro dog sculpt that reminded me of my dog (the fellow in my icon, the furry little love of my life) when he was still with me a year ago; I had already planned to get the doll to make a "mini-me" in his image. My boy passed away unexpectedly last year and I am still following through with that plan; I have the doll on order right now. I plan to put a small piece of his cremains in the doll's head. No object can ever replace a lost loved one, but I think it can be a lovely thing to remember them by.

As others have said, dealing with the loss of a loved one is a highly personal subject. I can absolutely see why it wouldn't work some people, but I think it could be a beautiful tribute if you want to go that way.

 

with my first doll marina im making her background story pretty much my gardian angel... sent from my grandma that died from cancer when i was young.. she was everything to me and i think she would probably love this hobby too (i could totally see her and me sitting together and making tons of clothes for her ; u ; ). so marina isnt based off her.. but a gift from her. hope thats not too weird thats just always how i thought of my girly thats why i wanna give her a little mini wing tattoo soon

 

Awww! I don't think that's weird at all, I think it's really sweet!

 

For me, I think if it helps you deal go with it. My dog passed away a couple of weeks ago but she's been pretty sick for about a year, maybe longer. While she was still with us I created a character to use when dealing with furries (I have a little art business) that is highly based of off her fur patterns because I knew the character would probably be around longer than the dog. In a way, it has helped me deal with her death, because I chose to carry little reminders of her. However, if you feel that you aren't dealing with it well and started thinking the doll -was- the person you lost, you should seek help. But I don't think anybody here was saying that.

 

I think that it is very bizarre. I think this about animals as well, but I admittedly find the human aspect much more so. I used to get a handful of art commissions where the person wanted me to draw a creature based on their dead cat/dog/whatever (oft with wings and halo) and I'd sit there thinking, what the hell am I drawing...

If someone were to do this to me if I died tomorrow I'd be all "bro, what are you even..."
Especially if you posed it with other dolls/brought it to meets, hah! I cant imagine.

 

Not creepy at all, and really, no one should tell you how to cope with grief or say you're doing it wrong. Everyone's experiences with and reactions to death are different.

My mother was a huge doll collector. She died very suddenly and violently right in front of me 10 years ago, before I was in the hobby or knew what these dolls were. Sometimes, I think about how much she would have loved these dolls and would have wanted one of her own. If a Customhouse St. Mina ever falls into my lap, I'd be rather tempted to style her after my mom the way she was in her teen years during the 50's, partying and smoking and drinking in fabulous clothes. It seems like it would be a fitting tribute.

 

Kim, I agree with you wholeheartedly. My mother did love these dolls. Before her death we had talked about making a doll that looked like she did in the 40s. She had always been interested in fashion and loved the clothes she wore in her youth. She would have thought the doll was fun!

 

I'm not sure I could do a doll up like a person in my family who died (except, I HAVE thought of how my grandmother who died at 101!!! would have loved these dolls & plan on dressing one of my girls in Victorian attire the way Grandma loved to dress her own dolls).
However, deceased celebrities etc - that seems a nice tribute - especially if I just dress my doll up sometimes. Marlene Dietrich, Humphrey Bogart, Clara Bow .... that kind of thing. A Korean actress whose dramas I loved died about 4 years ago & I've found a sculpt I think looks like her, so am getting it.

 

Interestingly enough, I think uncanny valley applies here. If you make a doll in a deceased beloved one's image, how close the resemblance is matters. If it was just personality, hair and eye color and general body type, it would seem cute. If it was a specially-commissioned Minimee with extensive scar reproduction and generally presented very realistically, I'd would honestly be slightly creeped out.

 

I wouldn't get a doll based on someone who had died but there is someone I have thought about getting a doll in memory.

 

I would never do this. It has nothing to do with me feeling like it's disrespecting the person or anything like that. Just, as a writer, I enjoy creating my own characters.

People can do whatever they want with their dolls, so if someone else wants to do that with theirs, that's totally fine. As long as they like their doll, that's all that matters.

 

I haven't personally done it, but I do own a doll that reminds me of a friend's child who has special needs. I do not have children myself and never wanted any, but this particular child amazes me with her honesty and generosity of spirit. I'm glad I own a doll that reminds me of her. Whenever I visit, she sits very close to me and has to touch me. She just sits happily and quietly beside me and rubs my arm. I appreciate her presence and her simple and open way of showing her affection.

 

While I find the idea of it very sweet i couldn't do this myself. It would remind me of them and make me sad..

 

I think it is a really nice thought. Every one deals with death in their own ways. That's something I learned when my grandpa died.
A lot of people get tattoos based off of their loved ones that have passed away. Getting a doll based off of someone who had passed away would be a wonderful way to remember someone and keep their memory alive.

 

Hmm if I were to do such a thing I think I would base the doll on what they loved most, or what I loved about them most. I would have the doll embody the joy they brought in my life

 

First off I'd like to say that I'm happy at how caring the responses are in this thread. It doesn't matter if a loved one passed away last week or thirty years ago, some individuals are just unforgettable.


Heavenly by Sister Kyoya, on Flickr

This is Naiomi my Dollfie Dream who is very loosely based around my grandmother (Naomi) who passed away when I was in grade school, about 25 years ago. This picture most of all reminds me of pictures of her when she was in her early 20s, her hair was very similar and she was exceedingly beautiful. Other than that their personalities are vastly different, but seeing my DD recalls happy memories of a woman who loved her grandkids a lot. The older I get the more my mother says I'm like her mom was, and I'm the only one in our family who can make her chiffon cakes from scratch, the same ones that she made and sold to help put my grandfather through medical school.

I think from her side of the family there is an inherited trait of doll collecting. In one of our local museums is my great-grandmother's doll, I have my grandmother's baby doll that she was given in the 30s, my mother bought herself a couple of American Girls for herself and she's in her 60s. The thing that surprised her the most is that Molly brought back so many irreplaceable memories that she had forgotten most of her adult life, like her own mother sewing doll clothes for her by the hour. Even one of my older sisters has two American Girls that she bought because they remind her of her and I when we were kids. And personally, it was really flattering knowing that she loves me that much that she doesn't ever want to forget.

As for the pets aspect, I think it is really a sweet way to remember them. About six months ago my cat passed away after living a very long and full life at almost sixteen years old. He was born at my house when I was in high school, a few months after I met my husband, and for all intents and purposes we were his parents. I don't think I'd be able to make a doll version of him, but I have a couple of pictures of him hanging in our house that I look at almost every day. The two things I still miss the most though are being able to hug him, and having him come and cheer me up whenever I'd cry (seriously, he hated to see me cry!)

So, like has already been said there really isn't anything wrong with having something tangible there, be it a doll or a photo, to recall the wonderful things about those we have loved in our lives.

~Sister Kyoya