About Joan's Antique Dolls

Our Service Pledge

We are happy to answer questions about our dolls. We respond to all orders within 24 hours, we guarantee the authenticity of all our items. We follow the ethical standards and code of conduct of NADDA (the National Antique Doll Dealers Association) and are committed to excellent customer service.

About Us

My motto is: "We pursue the elusive and cherish the traditional with passion and integrity". My shop is eclectic, but I specialize in antique French and German bisque, European cloth, Russian dolls from pre-revolutionary times to the present artists, and Madame Alexander made in the USA. You will find lovely antique or artist-made costumes and other accessories as well. I am studying the Grodnertal dolls currently. These are my current collecting passion. Whenever possible my dolls have factory original or antique costumes and they are always dressed appropriately for their period. I collected dolls as a child then put them away through Ph.D. graduate school years, internship, and early practice as a clinical psychologist and professor of psychology. Cultural Anthropology and Russian Area Studies were academic minors of mine, thus my interest in Russian dolls and European dolls. At 40 I fell in love again with Madame Alexander's Blue Fairy Cissette and from there began collecting bisque Nancy Ann Storybook dolls, Russian cloth from pre-revolutionary times and Lenci children, then German bisque and French Bebes, and finally early 19th-century woodens. For 15 years I had a brick and mortar store in Indianapolis attached to my psychotherapy office. I found the dolls and bears to be an important respite for me after a day of working with trauma survivors and my clients too derived great benefit from visiting the doll or bear rooms.

I still read doll books voraciously and love to continue learning and sharing knowledge with my customers. As was my practice as a professor, if you ask a doll or bear question that I cannot answer I will try to help you find the answer through research or contact with an expert in that area of collecting. I love the "hunt" including searching for special requests from clients. I am an active UFDC member and was a founding officer in the UFDC Antique Doll Study Guild of Indiana. Recently, since COVID has limited my international travel to lecture I was able to rejoin my first doll club - Doll Circle of Indiana and can again enjoy the special camaraderie of doll lovers. I am a member of NADDA (the National Antique Doll Dealers Association) and follow their strict guidelines for the accurate identification of antique dolls and ethical selling standards. I participate in the UFDC Salesroom and NADDA Shows.

All our merchandise is smoke-free. Please be advised that we require insurance on our dolls unless another arrangement is specifically made. Flexible layaway and offers are welcome. We want to make it possible for you to own the dolls of your dreams.

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