- Estimate
- $8,000 / $10,000
Stuart's Take
Rosalie's greatest passion was developing more the story of every doll in her museum. She did not "just" place them on shelves for view and leave what she knew at the time as its history. She worked to evolve the history. When she obtained these incredible black portrait dolls from a dealer/collector some years ago, there was little known other than the name of the artist. Rosalie spent years working to find out more of Ethel Sanders and her life. Who was the person behind such fantastical creations? While she uncovered small tidbits here and there, the timing of her research was pre-Internet and, as such, far more challenging. In fact, so much of her work that I reviewed over the years was the painstaking processes of writing letters and waiting sometimes for years a back and forth by regular mail of any responses. When the museum closed in 2011 little was still known of Ethel Sanders, though Rosalie had spent years piecing together what she could. However, this last decade has opened so many doors to discovery given the propensity of information now found online, Florence was able to uncover more, even communicating with the Walterboro, SC historical museum and gathering additional information on Ethel's life. While Florence learned of her respect and national prominence as an artist, the historical museum learned that she made dolls as well...they didn't even know! This is what serves the legacy of Rosalie so well. Not just the care for her collection to future generations, but the respect for the groundwork she established in research to inspire others to continue it, expand on it, and build the story more.