Redmond Porcelain Works
1976 painting Dolls
the beginning!
2018, below, Figurines are the current focus.
Mom at her sewing machine, 2006
Flower or "Maypole" Dolls
Tsarina Alexandra Doll, 2009
George & Gladys Redmond, 1945
For over thirty years, Redmond Porcelain was Mom (Gladys Redmond) & I (Kathy) making dolls.
We made "May Pole" or "Flower Girl" dolls, Historical dolls, fashion dolls, Portrait dolls, half-dolls, big & little dolls. Mom was the sewer. She made the cloth bodies and elaborate dresses and
costumes. I, the clay worker, made the porcelain heads, arms and legs. In those years, we must
have made thirty to forty sets of Henry VIII and his six wives.... Henry may not have been good to his
wives, but he was good for us.
These years were good. We worked hard, but we loved it. Mom sewed every day and sewed
her last doll in 2009 (Tsarina Alexandra) at age ninety. Mom matched her sewing to my porcelain
work, and I made the porcelain so that it blended visually with her sewing. We were on the same
wave length. WE were Redmond Dolls.
By the beginning of the 21st. Century, cheaper, lower-quality imported dolls started to make a
negative impact on American made dolls. Between that competition and Mom's health problems,
our business went into slow gear and finally stopped altogether in 2009 when Mom died. I
hibernated for awhile. But, as it turns out, a promise couldn't be ignored. Among other things,
Mom made me swear that I wouldn't "give up" and wouldn't stop working. In truth, I am a clay-
worker. There is nothing else that I can really do well. She knew that. So, like it always was,
from here till it's done, this clay is for you Mom.
This "Pet" website also takes our really good friends and co-workers into account: the
Cats. Snuffy I (1976-1992), the "Guys" Snuff II and the Little Guy till 2009 and now Thor and
Kitty (ex-stray). Having worked side-by-side with all of these critters over years, it only makes
sense that, now, they are the stars of the modeled clay.....along with other best friends like dogs,
rabbits, birds, horses and all of God's critters. Could I have worked without Cat help? No,
of course not. They "bat" the wet clay and smooth it out by sitting on it..they rearrange it
into new and interesting shapes; if I leave work on the table, you can be sure that they will put it
securely away -on the floor.
Appropriately, then, the logo for Redmond Porcelain is a blue cat with an "R" in his
belly. This was designed by my father, George Redmond, who drew really cute critter pictures.
He knew then, as we knew later, that all of our pets make everything, if not always better,
a whole lot more interesting.
Kathy & the Stuff 2005
Little Guy & Snuff
Mom sewing dolls 1985
Paper dolls, Booklets
Thor
Thor & Kitty 2012
Grania
Deidre, Loki, Balder, Sif, Thor, Freya
Catherine of Aragon portrait figurines
Kathy Redmond
