Antique Porcelain Dolls

Yolanda Sadighpour Moradzdeh is the founder and creative force behind each of the antique porcelain dolls produced by her Los Angeles-based firm, Yoli’s Dolls. Yolanda was born in Kermanshah, Iran and developed her artistic talents at San Diego State University where she majored in Interior and Graphic Design. Her love for antiques and vintage dolls provided the inspiration for the superb range of antique porcelain dolls. Yoli’s Dolls are handmade ethnic Persian dolls and each one represents a different region of Iran.

Yoli’s Dolls are all attired in traditional and reproduction fabrics that go through an aging process and many of the trims come from vintage petticoats, old button collections and antique ribbons and laces. The creator of the antique porcelain dolls visits the flea markets of Los Angeles where she collects scraps of beautiful antique brocade fabric, hand-dyed fabrics and quilter’s remnants. The creator of Yoli’s Dolls often missed her hometown in Iran and she began to design the antique porcelain dolls to resemble the different people of the villages she remembered visiting as a child. In this manner, she was able to see Iran as something she could touch, feel and be close to. Memory and fantasy allow the originator of Yoli’s Dolls the freedom to use her imagination in the crafting of the antique porcelain dolls. Yolanda believes there might come a time when the only legacy of the tribes of Iran will be the colorful hand-woven carpets and fabrics they produced and the beautiful and distinctive costumes they wore for centuries.

Since the creation of the first of the antique porcelain dolls, Yoli’s Dolls has been in great demand by doll collectors and art connoisseurs. They make wonderful gifts for those who have similar origins of the creator of Yoli’s Dolls, as well as for those who wish to add to their collections of unique dolls from around the world. Yolanda gives each doll, male or female, its own personality and no two dolls are alike. Their clothes demonstrate their heritage, whether they are Bakhtiari, Kurdish, Lori, Taleshi or Turkaman. Each of the antique porcelain dolls comes with its own special name certificate and indicates the region it represents. All Yoli’s Dolls come in unique and specially designed boxes with fabric inside and outside and tied on the top with tassels.

Since beginning the creation of the antique porcelain dolls in March 2004, Yolanda still sits in her workshop and hand-paints Yoli’s Dolls. She also designs and sews all the dresses and accessories herself, from the real hair wig styles to dresses and jewelry. Each antique porcelain doll is a unique creation, and therefore, the fabrics and trims vary from one doll to the next. Every one of the Yoli’s Dolls is lovingly adorned with handmade jewelry, charms, buttons, makeup, head-dress and polished nails matching costumes worn in a region of Iran. It is possible that in the distant future, the handmade Persian antique porcelain dolls will become treasured family heirlooms.