Little Compton Rhode Island


All pictures are included courtesy of the Little Compton Historical Society. lchistory@littlecompton.org Thanks to them from Izannah lovers for letting me photograph, and for keeping the Izannahs safe and well. 

Wilbor House at Little Compton Rhode Island. What we realized at Little Compton was that reading about Izannah's life doesn't nearly give the feel of the incredible settings in Rhode Island and Mass. Little Compton is in a beautiful place, with water views, rock walls and old houses everywhere you look. Wilbor House itself is wonderful, with huge plank floors, beautiful surfaces and historic paintings and furnishings. 

Queen Anne Doll at Little Compton .













Of course, it was hard for this Izannah fanatic to see anything but the first doll on display, in the Victorian room! She is beautiful, and I was able to view her out of the case with the help of Marjory O'Toole, the curator of the Wilbor house.


Isn't she beautiful! She seems to have her original dress, which is very simple in style, but with beautiful handstitching that was hard to distinguish from machine. These feet were the most like the ones I had seen in pictures among the dolls I viewed. And I learned  it is very hard to take a picture of feet!


Again, I realized how small these dolls are - this one has extremely graceful hands and arms that would be very hard to shape without using a mold in my opinion. 
I'm including this picture just to document the size - and the excited, crazy look on my face because I was  holding her!




 


This was my first look at what "in storage" means and why you should ALWAYS call ahead before going to see an Izannah! Peggy was in the barn, and on the top shelf. "Barn" is misleading- this very old barn has been encased in a newer building for preservation, and the storage is very well managed.


This is Peggy. She looks a bit sad, but is very unique in several ways.  She has stitched toes!

It is also very easy to see the seam in the arms when looking at Peggy. 
She is redressed, but there is a wonderful story behind her dress. 

Here is the story from the Little Compton website. Grandmother Snow (see notes)

”Peggy - A little account written by Grandmother Snow” Peggy is one of the rag dolls which were made by two ladies in Providence many years ago. I was born in 1860 and Peggy was given Peggy was given to me when I was a very little girl, so young that I do not remember when I first had the doll. The clothes she then wore were old-fashioned, but long since worn out and thrown out.
I have tried to make her present warded (wardrobe) be as nearly like the original as I could from memory.
The green silk chaillie gown I make from pieces of a dress once worn by Mrs. James Arnold, who lived in the house on County Street, now owned and occupied by the Wamsutta Club. The material probably was bought in France, as such was not made in this country at that time - probably 1850-1860.
The original dress worn by Mrs. Arnold was given later to my Aunt Mary Taber, then made over and worn by my cousin Mary Kempton Tabor, and still later given, or handed down to my Mother, who make a little dress for me of the best goods remaining. This was worn at a later period by Agatha Snow, Edith Snow an Deborah Snow. This doll’s dress is fit only for the purpose of an exhibition - it is so frail and old now. Peggy was given to the LCHS by Mrs. Robert Snow of West Road Little Compton, RI 6/22/70

Peggy was the only doll I viewed with a provenance- the rest had been donated to museums without records .

This makes her very special!  
 
Just in case you are not quite convinced that I'm obsessed- I've created a family tree for Izannah- and found that she had grandparents or g-grandparents who lived in Little Compton- the Richmond family.