Move to California

Anne moved to California several years ago, and it seems that the move was the genesis of the decision to sell the collection. "After my husband's death, when I left New Orleans" said Anne, "I didn't have room in my Californian home for the dolls. I gave half of the dolls from St. Elizabeth's to my assistant who was the curator of the St. Elizabeth's collection; these were mostly the artist dolls.

I then brought the best of the dolls including the antique dolls to California but I never had the place to properly display them. They were all over my house. For instance, the very large, life-size dolls of Dawn Adams were in my living room, one just sitting on the couch."

Theriault's Has Helped Make The Sale Possible

So, said Anne, it was time to sell her beloved doll collection--to move on. "Theriault's has truly helped to make the sale possible" reflected Anne, "they packed up the collection for sale and spared me the pain of having to put my cherished children into boxes. I knew the dolls were going into safe hands, and that I could trust them. Antique dolls are true treasures, they are a real responsibility and there is lots of trust involved in both owning them and passing them on to new owners."

Anne's Imaginative Connection To Dolls

Ann hasn't only collected dolls, she also has always "been imaginatively connected to my dolls." As mentioned, the Bru doll from Celia's Dolls was a very significant doll to Anne.

This Bru stands 27 inches tall, and not only was she the doll featured in Anne's "Taltos" novel, but the doll also represented to Anne the child vampire Claudia from "Interview With a Vampire". Ann was photographed with this Bru for the paperback jacket for "Interview With a Vampire." Also, the character Madeline in "Interview With a Vampire" was a dollmaker who had lost her child, and whose dolls resembled her lost daughter. Ann said that "other dolls have figured in my books including the dolls of Annette Hinstedt--the dollmaker in "Taltos", made smiling child dolls with open mouths; these were modeled on the Annette Himstedt dolls."

Dolls In Anne's Childhood

Anne's interest in dolls goes back to her childhood, but "as a child, dolls were not a big part of my life," said Anne. "I was really a tomboy as I grew up. Even so, I did love dolls, but remember that I did not grow up in an era where children had lots of toys. The dolls I remember most vividly from my childhood are boudoir dolls. I remember that they cost $2.95, and I saw them in a shop and my mother let me buy them. I had a boudoir bride doll and a lady boudoir doll, and I loved them" In fact, during Anne's first phase of collecting, she collected dozens of boudoir dolls, as she had one of her strongest connections with them.

Anne's Favorite Dolls

As with many collectors, Anne finds it hard to pick her favorite dolls from her collection. But Anne did have her favorites: "I loved so many. I have always loved Jumeaus, especially the expressions on them, and I have collected as many as I could get." said Anne, who continued, "and for me, Bru is the Queen of dolls, especially the Bru Jne with her white leather body, and porcelain arms; I've had a number of them, including one that I've especially treasured purchased from Jim Fernando in California." As for her artist dolls, Ann also loved them all, but especially favored the giant porcelain dolls of Dawn Adams, the dolls of Edna Dali "full of delicacy and animation," and the dolls of Nancy Wiley: "I love the way she paints the faces and shadows on the faces; they are marvelous character dolls" she said.

As we were discussing Anne's antique French dolls and her favorite artist dolls, Anne paused and said "As we are talking, I am seeing these dolls and I'm enjoying them as we are talking about them...and I'm confident and happy that they will be enjoyed by others after they are sold."

Will Anne Collect Dolls Again Or Keep Any Dolls?

Anne said that she "may collect again someday, when the time comes. Right now, I'm not collecting and also not sharing them with others, so it is definitely time to move on. However, if I ever collected again, I would probably collect French dolls. French dolls have given me the best satisfaction over the years, and they are a huge responsibility"

As for keeping any dolls, the only doll that Anne is keeping is a large cowboy doll, because her late husband Stan painted it.

Anne's Advice For Doll Collectors And Thoughts on Why Doll Collectors Collect

Anne followed her heart as a doll collector. She said that "as a collector, I collected what I liked; I didn't worry about the resale value of the dolls. I think that if others also collect what they like, they can't go wrong. Buy what delights you and what you want to keep in your house.

Ann further said that she was a bit sad about the fact that doll artists have not grown enough in reputation for their incredible dolls to increase greatly in value.

At the end of our interview, Anne reflected a bit about the reasons that she collected dolls. She definitely thought that the loss of her daughter at a young age influenced her later collecting. "Yes," said Anne, "it could be connected, after all, I wrote about a dollmaker who lost a daughter in "Interview With a Vampire" so there is something there. I think that all collectors have deep-rooted psychological reasons they collect. At the heart of it, dolls make you happy. For me, it was so exciting to bring home the first German doll I bought…such pleasure. This is how I also reacted with the Brus I purchased later on as well. All doll collectors have their reasons for collecting--perhaps capturing childhood--or simply the reason that dolls give us extraordinary pleasure."

The Theriault Auction

The fine antique dolls from the Anne Rice doll collection will be offered for auction by Theriault's, the well-known United States based auction house specializing in antique dolls and toys, The dolls will be featured in a large auction event to be held in Chicago on July 18, 2010 just prior to the UFDC doll convention. For more information, visit www.theriaults.com