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

I suppose in a way that I do, though not for someone that I knew personally...but I own a Jeremy Brett MNM. I grew up watching him play Sherlock Holmes and was quite sad when I heard that he had died. It was possibly the first death that I had heard of that really made me stop for a bit and think about what that meant. I was still rather young at that time but just getting old enough to think about such things with more maturity. He was sort of my first silly, little crush. Hehe. So when I heard of the MNM service, that was the only commission that I knew I would have to have. He's special because he reminds me of youth. ^_^

But more personally, I have always had the idea at the back of my head to make a doll of my grandmother as a young woman. She was beautiful. She looks like a movie star in the old black and white family photos and I think it would be really nice to have a doll of her because we were very close. I don't think I would want to commission a sculpt though, for all the logistics of that...it just wouldn't work out to do a single head and I wouldn't be comfortable with a whole run of such sculpts.... I haven't seen any dolls that look like she did, but I wouldn't think it creepy to use one if I did find something suitable. I think it would be something beautiful to work on. I don't see it any different than painting a portrait, which I've also considered. My grandmother has been dead for some time now, but I miss her still. I don't stop missing people just because they have died, so the doll would not be added sorrow, but instead something that I could do to show my love. I hope that isn't creepy.

 

I am fortunate enough to not have suffered much loss in my life, but even so, if I had money set aside I think I would be happier honouring their memory by donating to a charity that they were passionate about or was related to their passing, rather than using their memory to justify a big expensive doll.

 

my last doll arrived on the day my father died.(he was ill and very elderly, so not totally unexpected)
She was always going to be a bit goth, so now she might be a bit more so, but not in mourning.
She isn't exactly a tribute doll, but i look at her and think of him.

 

I plan on getting a doll for my character Kestrel who represents someone I lost back in 2007. She was a great friend of mine and it was tragic the character Kestrel was based on her from the beginning and has now gone through several changes as I start to kinda grieve for her. I have two sculpts in mind for the doll either a Illusion Spirit Annabel or DOD E'an.

 

Shortly after I purchased a body for an incoming event head, I found out a good friend from long ago had died and I found out a few hours after his memorial service.

It was like something clicked. The event head did not have a character so immediately I thought he could be a tribute doll to my friend, without actually BEING in the image of my friend. The head is definitely NOT my friend's face shape! I won't bother with a mustache, either. In fact, I have told the chosen faceup artist to make him more of a fantasy doll. I have a bright blue wig needing a head and I think my friend would have liked this since his favorite colour was blue.

My friend was a photographer and I want to integrate that into the doll, maybe one eye looking like a camera lenses, or at least get the doll a camera.

My friend liked the group Journey when we were best friends running around so the doll's name is Journey Odle. Odle is my friend's last name.

If the head resembled my friend I would probably have the faceup artist make the doll look more like him.

So based on a lost loved one? Sure! Why not? As long as it is a tribute and not something to obsess on or keep the person left behind from moving forward.

 

I wonder how that would work with my grandparents. I've seen lots of photos and at no point in their lives do they bear the slightest resemblance to any bjd I've seen to date. They are all so normal, real salt of the earth folks.

If I were to attempt one, I'd consider my late cat, Samson, but it would be more about my feelings than a superficial resemblance.

 

I plan to make a doll dedicated to my friends Rottweiler as a gift. He meant everything to both of us, so it's only natural to want to make one like him.

 

I've been actually thinking for a long time that I would like to have a replica of myself and my husband, so that at least in the fantasy world, we could both be perfect. That I wouldn't mind, replicating someone that's still alive. But to replicate someone whose already passed away, specially knowing how realistic these dolls can get... I dont think I would do it. AT the end if the replica is not good, i'd be disappointed and if it's too good, I'd be creeped out. But maybe that's just me.

 

I'm in the process of making a doll for Lady, a much beloved pet that I had for a very long time (about 13 years) and her death was very hard for my family. I just got her head (a DZ Hal) and she has a little pawprint on her cheek and the face up artist wrote "in loving memory of Lady" on the inside, even though I didn't ask her to. But it was very sweet and I smiled when I saw it.

I was worried, though, that I'd cry when I finally got the head but, it's been a few years, and this little tribute to Lady just makes me smile.

 

Do you have photos of it? I'd love to see. Jeremy Brett is/was/always will be "my" Holmes, too.


....And to the topic at hand... I don't think it's creepy at all. As a way to remember someone who was important to you, it's not at all strange. We keep photos and home movies and voice recordings of people, so why not a doll?

 

I wouldn't want a doll of a person/animal.
I don't find it disrespectful to honor a person in that way. It's just not my way of doing so.

 

I think it's a very sweet thought. And it's not creepy in itself, you knew your friend, if you think he'd be amused by it he probably would, so go ahead and do it. I can imagine a few people I know that would be honored if I did this, and a few people that would be horrified. But people have done stranger things to remember loved ones

 

I think it can go both ways. A sweet tribute or a creepy obsession depending on how the person handles it.

 

I have a doll on order who is a tribute to my late and much loved dog, Dylan. After Dylan died I wrote a short story about him in the afterlife, where form was fluid and he could take on the appearance of a human, a dog, or anything he wanted. The doll will be called Dylan, and the first time I saw him I thought how much he looked like the human form Dylan I visualised for my story. The doll is, however, a character in his own right.
My AoD Rao, Angharad Elise (Annie) is named for my mum, who died six weeks ago. Annie arrived 2 days before mum died, and so they will always be linked. They share a sweet generosity of character. I'm not like my mum! ^__^

 

I dont think its creepy at all (only if they are made to look like them exactly) I mean its one way of coping with your loss. The feeling of having something near and dear to remind you of a loved one is sweet and touching. I for one wont do this though because I already feel that My loved ones are in my heart and I do not need a reminder because they are always watching over me.

 

I personally wouldn't do it just because I'd rather get dolls to make characters and make clothes, and I wouldn't have fun with a memorial doll, but I don't think it's creepy. If anything I think it's a sweet/cute memorial.

 

One day I might have a kind of "tribute doll". A person who meant a lot to me died last year and I didn't know until weeks later ... he was a pianist so the doll in question is going to be one too, and the doll's name is going to be based on the said person's, but that's all. I'm not going for looks or re-creating the person in doll scale ... it's a tribute, a way to keep the memory alive. At the same time, the doll is an OC ... inspired by a person I knew.

 

not an actual representation for me... but when Mom was terminal (with months). we talked about doing up a doll that would represent her in memory. As it was my hobby she liked the idea of it and talked about what the doll would be like: it would have the name Grandad nixed when she was born "Iris Rose", but grandad didnt want a daughter with a 'damn flower garden for a name'... So Mom got Hazel as her middle name as it was Grandma's name too ^^. Iris Rose Hazel, as I call her will normally have dark hair and eyes as my mom did. She will sort of go with another OCish doll as a little sister (he is a zenith and she is an msd). She will alays be dressed old fashioned (mom was born 1941) and more girly despite the fact that mom was a farm girl ;P . I may make some 'nursing' type uniforms for fun for her as mom always worked in that feild. My mom was a 'jack of all trades' type person so in a way I can have a feild day with how I do Iris Rose up. My first sewing project tho has to be a simple halter dress as I don't sew yet. Later I will be tring a simple 'young girl' Regency dress I hope. But I was unable to get my doll before she passed but within the year after I spotter her at a doll/toy show and she called to me (she's my sig goodreau doll') I may one day 'upgrade' to a better doll as Iris Rose but she will always be my doll bought in memory of mom.

Glad to see someone who actually talked to the person that the doll would represent 'about' the doll tribute... I wondered if my disscussing moms tribute doll with her was 'uncommon'. Glad to see I am not alone in having done this ^^.

 

I've been thinking about this thread a lot over this past weekend. My dad's birthday was last Thursday, but after working long hours at a tradeshow I decided to call him sometime this weekend to wish him a happy 64th birthday and Easter. My sister texted me on Saturday to tell me that he died suddenly that morning of an embolism. That was just two days ago and his funeral is still being planned. He lived in another state so I have to wait until I get the funeral date to visit everyone and I've been stuck by myself a bit disconnected from everyone. Now that I've been home letting it all sink in, I feel like the photos of him aren't enough I haven't seen my dad in years, and the person I saw in these photographs looked like a stranger to me. I didn't get to grow up with him as a dad, so I always had this "idea" of who he was that probably isn't entirely accurate. But idealizing the dearly departed doesn't sound like such a bad thing to me. I recently customized a doll as Clementine from The Walking Dead video game, since I adore the character and my husband said that when he worked on the game he thought of me as Clementine (we look very similar.) The main character of the game is Lee, her adopted protector after the undead outbreak leaves her orphaned and alone. Anyway, my point is, Lee takes Clem under his wing and protects her, with his life, from the monsters. I always thought that's what dads are supposed to be, even though my dad wasn't there when I was Clem's age. I've never actually been able to bond with a male doll but now I want to make a Lee character so bad. It's not exactly my dad--he looks only a little bit like him (they are both black, similar eyes, similar forehead...) but it'd just be something that I can feel a more powerful connection with what I think of my dad as, since the man he really is--really was--will now NEVER be someone I get to know anymore. I see a lot of myself in Clementine and a lot of what I want to see of my dad in Lee. My dad was always preparing for disasters (my mom says I inherited his paranoia, I say I'm just being prepared!) and I just know my dad would have been an amazing survivor in the zombie apocalypse.

So to me, dolls that can be based off lost loved ones (or ones lost that you really want to love more than you got a chance to) can be a nice way to help bring part of them into your life that you missed out on.

 

Anne and Emmeline, my two PFs are based loosely off my grandmother and my husband's grandmother. My grandmother died a good 15+ years before I bought Anne. They share a name and Anne is an idealized and simplified version of my grandmother. Emmeline was originally a gift for my grandmother in law, and when she died, she came back to live with me. I don't like the name Mary and so I used my grandmother-in-law's middle name. She too has an idealized and simplified version of my grandmother in law's personality. To be honest, I was not terribly fond of my grandmother in law, but I do like Emmeline.

So sorry for your recent loss Anneke.