Creations by Ba'ucham

In a question and answer session, Ra'chel Ba'ucham, who creates dolls under the brand, Creations by Ba'ucham, shares her artist profile with the readers of Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black.

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How long have you been making dolls and what inspired you to begin making them?

I have been making dolls for about 3 years in my spare time, while I worked as a full-time nurse.  What inspired me was a dream that I had that God had gifted me with the gift of doll making, even though at that time I had never made a doll in my life.

The first crocheted boy doll by Creations by Ba'ucham, Roger, is shown with the artist's second crocheted girl, whose name is Ariana.

What is your favorite medium or favorite media, if more than one and why?

I love working with all mediums, from fabric, clay, seeds, beads, shells and even sticks.  I up-cycle some dolls from simple things like empty coffee creamer containers, really any medium that calls out to me to be re-invented.

Do you have your own personal style or trademark that sets your dolls apart from other dolls made from the medium/media that you use?

Each doll that I craft is unique in that they are truly one of a kind.  Each doll is authenticated with a unique marking known only to myself and one other person.  Each doll is further supported by copyright documentation registered in the Library of Congress, assuring each doll owner that they are in possession of an authentic doll crafted by me, the artist and designer.  Each doll receives a Certificate of Authenticity and there is only one like each doll in the whole world.  No patterns are used in the crafting of my dolls, no matter what medium that is used.

This cloth doll has a few identifying marks.

Do your dolls direct your path during the creation process in determining their final appearance?

Yes, and only another doll maker would understand that each doll has a personality all unique to them. They will advise me as to how they want to be presented.  They advise me in every step of their creative journey from hairstyle, facial expression, clothing, accessories, and name.

The same cloth doll as before shows off her nape-of-neck and lower-back tattoos.

Do you want collectors to gain a sense of realism from your dolls, or are your dolls abstract characters?

Yes, realism.  Each doll is an extension on me, and expresses the multifaceted layers of my own personality, from the little girl to the mature woman that I am, and the whole width and depth of uncharted territory in-between the two facets.

Bernard's face is needle sculpted and he has dimples.

Describe your latest doll creation and the inspiration.

My latest creation is a little boy doll.  His name is Bernard.  He operates in the personality of a two-year-old child and my inspiration was influenced by a dear friend of mine whose name is Bernard.  My friend is 61 years old, but at times the little boy in him surfaces and thus his mini-me was crafted.

This lovely cloth doll with handpainted facial features represents a Delta Sigma Theta soror.

Do you have any tips for aspiring artists?

I am still fresh on this journey but would offer that everyone reach deep within themselves and craft from their soul.  There are a lot of doll makers but so are there many hamburger restaurants – each one offers the community a different take on the same medium.  So don't be intimidated.  There is enough of God, His gifts, and His love to fill everyone's cup in this world, and there would still be overage.  Be your true authentic self, and explore your own unique flavor and believe that you are in possession of that unique one-of-a-kind spice that the world needs to experience.

A cute blonde girl with blue eyes wears a pretty white crocheted dress and sky blue leggings with crocheted shoes to match.

What is the average price of your dolls? 

The prices vary. They mostly range from $80 to $155 depending on the complexity to make them.

Daeja is a huggable 18-inch freehand crocheted baby.

How can you be reached?

Creations by Ba'ucham

Ra'chel Ba'ucham Artist/Designer

E-mail:  unekleyme1010@gmail.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CreationsbyBaucham/
Etsy:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/CreationsByBaucham

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Ebony-Essence of Dolls in Black extends a heartfelt thanks to Ra'chel for taking the time to share her artist profile and the images of her one-of-a-kind, handcrafted doll designs.  Visit the Black Doll Collecting blog to see a detailed review of one of Ra'chel's freehand crocheted dolls.  

Lenon Holder Hoyte - Educator, Philantropist, Doll Museum Founder - Part 1

Lenon Holder Hoyte

July 4, 1905 – August 1, 1999

Educator, Philanthropist, Doll Museum Founder and Curator

(Photo scanned from Sotheby's catalog:  The Collection of Lenon Holder Hoyte.)

Born on Independence Day in 1905, Lenon Holder Hoyte, an educator and philanthropist, was founder and curator of Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum.  The museum was housed in the three-story Harlem, New York brownstone that she shared with her pharmacist husband, Lewis P. Hoyte.  The couple had no children, but Hoyte often referred to her dolls as her babies. 

From Sotheby's 6644 auction catalog of "Aunt Len's" dolls, December 16, 1994, are items 491 and 407.  Described as "Martha Chase Black Painted Cloth Doll, American, late 19th century, stockinette face and body," is a 26-inch doll formerly owned by Aunt Len. Item 410, "Martha Chase 'Little Nell' Painted Fabric Doll, American, circa 1930, with blue eyes, applied ears, and brown hair" is a 15-1/2-inch doll from Aunt Len's Doll and Toy Museum.

As a collector of black dolls, I am always fascinated by others who share my passion.  While Aunt Len’s collection was not restricted to black dolls, her museum included several.  Throughout my years of collecting, I have heard the name Lenon Hoyte or Aunt Len mentioned by other collectors or by those closely connected to the doll community.  These people often inquired whether I 1) knew Hoyte or 2) visited her museum.  My answer has always been “no” because I began collecting a few years prior to Aunt Len’s demise and was not aware of her or the museum until after her passing. 

For the benefit of others who are not aware of Ms. Hoyte’s contribution to the doll community, I felt compelled to create this compilation of information about her.  The information herein was gleaned from various Internet sources, to include two biographies, periodicals, and Ms. Hoyte’s L.A. Times and New York Times obituaries. Doll images were scanned from a Sotheby’s catalog of over 400 dolls from the Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum.  The ultimate goal is to document the most pertinent information about Hoyte’s life as a collector to familiarize others with this remarkable woman.

Personal Information

Born Lenon Holder on July 4, 1905, in New York City; daughter of Moses Emanuel and Rose Pari (Best) Holder; married Lewis P. Hoyte on September 1, 1938; died on August 1, 1999, in New York City.
Education: New York Teachers Training School, 1930; City College of New York (CCNY), BS, 1937; Teaching Certificate in Special Education, 1940, Columbia University; doctoral equivalent, 1959, CCNY.
Religion: Episcopalian.
Memberships/Affiliations:
Harlem Hospital, secretary to the lay advisory board; National Doll and Toy Collectors Club; Phi Delta Kappa Sorority, 1st Basileus, 1953; St. [Philips] Episcopal Church, Upper 2 Society; United Federation of Doll Clubs.

Early Life, Education, Teaching Career

Hoyte was the oldest of five children of Rose Pari (Best) and Moses Emanuel Holder.   After attending the New York Teachers Training School, she began teaching in New York City public schools in 1930, where she remained until her retirement in 1970.  She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in education from CCNY in 1937.  She earned her teaching certificate in special education from Columbia University in 1940.

Lenon Hoyte remained a student as well as an educator for much of her career.  She studied art at CCNY, at Columbia University, and with private teachers. In 1959 Hoyte earned her Ph.D. equivalent from CCNY. 

Mrs. Hoyte often used dolls in the classroom as teaching aids (Photo scanned from Sotheby's catalog:  The Collection of Lenon Holder Hoyte.)

Between 1940 and 1950 Hoyte taught mentally disabled children. Between 1950 and 1970 she taught art, crafts, puppetry, and doll making. She was a lecturer at the Museum of Natural History and the workshop coordinator for the Workshop Center for Open Education at CCNY. After 41 years in her profession, Hoyte retired from teaching art at Junior High School 149 in the Bronx. Her decision to retire was explained in The New York Times obituary by William H. Honan, who quoted Hoyte as saying, "When they started killing teachers, I got out."

Life's Work

After 40 years as an art and special education teacher in New York City public schools, Lenon Hoyte--commonly known as Aunt Len--founded Aunt Len's Doll and Toy Museum in her Harlem home. It was one of the nation's largest private collections of dolls and related toys and became one of New York City's most popular specialty museums during its years of operation between 1970 and 1994.

Continue reading here.

Part 2: Lenon Holder Hoyte - Educator, Philantropist, Doll Museum Founder

Aunt Len, seated with a large cloth doll. (Photo scanned from Sotheby's catalog:  The Collection of Lenon Holder Hoyte.)

Continued from Part 1

Founding the Doll Museum
In 1962 Hoyte was asked to organize a doll show as a fundraiser for Harlem Hospital. Following her husband's death, Hoyte's new-found passion occupied her retirement years. She traveled throughout the United States, Europe, and the Caribbean, visiting doll shows and collecting dolls and accessories from flea markets, garage sales, and antique stores. Hoyte referred to all of her dolls as her "babies," from the rarest antiques to well-used dolls with broken arms.

The year that they married, the Hoytes had bought a three-story brownstone at 6 Hamilton Terrace between Convent and St. Nicholas Avenues in Harlem. In the 1960s they turned over a part of their home to Aunt Len's Doll and Toy Museum. The public spaces consisted of narrow passageways winding through the ground floor and basement of the building. From 1970 until 1994, Lenon Hoyte served as the museum's full-time executive director, president, curator, and tour guide.

Aunt Len's Doll and Toy Museum officially opened in 1974, with irregular hours several times per week. Admission fees never exceeded two dollars for adults and 50 cents for children. At one time the museum held between 5,000 and 6,000 dolls. Eventually, it outgrew its space and Hoyte began to store her most valuable dolls in a rental across the street.

Sotheby's auction item 357 (left) is a 21-1/2-inch Simon & Halbig bisque character doll, German, circa 1890.  Item 236 (right) is an early Jumeau, 15-1/2-inch pressed bisque doll, French, circa 1885.  (Photo scanned from Sotheby's catalog:  The Collection of Lenon Holder Hoyte.)

Attracted Collectors from Around the World
In general, Hoyte's collection was organized historically. However, sometimes exhibits occupied glass cabinets with particular themes. The dolls ranged in size from one or two inches up to two to three feet. There were fine nineteenth-century French dolls made of bisque, an unglazed ceramic. There were rare, antique porcelain dolls and United States presidents and first ladies. There were numerous versions of Shirley Temple dolls, Barbie dolls, Betsy Wetsy dolls, and Cabbage Patch dolls.

Offered in the 1994 Sotheby's auction, a Leo Moss doll, item 332, described as an 18-inch composition head black doll; and item 331, described as a 19-inch black plaster shoulder head artist doll by Magge Head, 1952.

Hoyte's collection included extremely rare black dolls from the nineteenth century. Among them were rag dolls made by slaves from scraps of fabric, muslin, and feed bags. A pair of papier-mâche´ dolls named Lillian and Leo had been made by Leo Moss, a nineteenth-century black handyman from Atlanta. Lillian and Leo had tears running down their cheeks. Legend claimed that after separating from his wife and children, Moss only made sad dolls. According to Hoyte's obituary in the Los Angeles Times, she once told reporters that these black dolls represented "the beginning of our heritage."

Sotheby's auction item 84, described as "Rare J. D. Kestner Bisque Interchangeable Head Doll in Original Box, German, circa 1910, heads incised 174, 184, 178 and 185."

Hoyte had dolls from Africa, France, Germany, Russia, and the Philippines. One of her favorites was a baby doll with wide eyes and long eyelashes, carved out of mahogany in 1977 by a California artist named Patty Hale. The museum also included dollhouses, doll clothing and costumes, stuffed animals, and tin toys. Harlem children, as well as collectors from around the world, delighted in Aunt Len's museum.

Aunt Len provides details about the dolls to young museum visitors.  (Photo scanned from Sotheby's catalog:  The Collection of Lenon Holder Hoyte.)

Doll Designs, Affiliations, Awards
Hoyte continued to design her own original dolls, for which she was awarded numerous blue ribbons. In 1983 her dolls were exhibited at several special art showings. Hoyte wrote a column, "Our Museum," for Doll News and continued to teach doll-making and produce doll shows. Proceeds from her doll shows were donated to St. Philip's Episcopal Church, of which she was a lifelong member.

In addition to her church and doll clubs, Hoyte was a member of Beta Epsilon and served as secretary and president of the Hamilton Terrace Block Association. She received numerous awards throughout her career, including a 1980 Self Help Neighborhood Award, a service award from the United Federation of Doll Clubs, Inc.; Kappa Sigma Chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho, Outstanding Contributor to Black Culture, 1981; Harlem YWCA, Cecelie Cabiness Saunders Award, 1982; Brooklyn Teachers Humanitarian Award, 1983; a Building Brick Award from the New York Urban League in 1985; an Educator of the Year Award in 1988 from the City University of New York; and in 1990, the Mayoral Award of Honor for Art and Culture from New York City Mayor Edward I. Koch.

Tragedy, Museum Closing
In 1990 Hoyte's home and museum were broken into and at least nine dolls – including a priceless two-foot-tall English king – were stolen. Hoyte was broken-hearted. As indicated in her New York Times obituary, she said at the time, "People any more don't let you live. You struggle to keep something up for joy and beauty, and you find yourself having to watch for thieves. It's not right." Soon after the break-in, four of the dolls – replicas of Benjamin Franklin, George and Martha Washington, and Abraham Lincoln – were returned to Hoyte's front room, broken but repairable.  As stated in her obituary, she responded, "I don't ask questions about how. I'm just happy to have them back."

Sotheby's auction item 266, described as a 17-inch "Bru Black 'Circle Dot' Pressed Bisque Head Bebe doll, French, circa 1880" (see the color image next).

The same doll, shown immediately above, realized $18,000 in the Sotheby's auction. (Photos scanned from Sotheby's catalog:  The Collection of Lenon Holder Hoyte.)

As Hoyte aged, she was no longer able to care for the museum. She closed its doors in the early 1990s and began to dismantle her collection. Thousands of Hoyte's dolls were sold to dealers and private collectors around the world. In 1994, 700 of her finest antique dolls were auctioned at Sotheby's. Prices ranged from $200 for a pair of German all-bisque dolls to "a black Bru pressed-bisque-head bebe doll," valued at $18,000 (as noted in her NY Times obituary). Hoyte died at the age of 94, on August 1, 1999, in a New York hospital.

Continue reading here.

Part 3: Lenon Holder Hoyte - Educator, Philantropist, Doll Museum Founder

Sotheby's 1994 auction item 176, scanned from the sale 6644 catalog, is described as 23-inch "Pressed Bisque Steiner Bebe Doll, French, circa 1890s."

Continued from Part 2

Posthumous Recognition
In 2002 Alva Rogers' The Doll Plays premiered at the Actor's Express in Atlanta, Georgia. A tribute to Lenon Hoyte, the play depicted Hoyte on her deathbed, with dolls acting out her life, as well as presenting their own histories as toys and collectibles. A fancy French doll described her feelings as a discarded toy and a Grace Kelly doll recalled her transition from Hollywood glamour girl to Princess Grace of Monaco.

Hoyte Biographies written by Betty Kaplan Gubert and Margaret Alic
Ms. Hoyte’s biography, written by Betty Kaplan Gubert, is included on pages 275-276 in American National Biography: Supplement 2.  The various biographies in this supplement, written by a host of different authors, were compiled by John Garrity and edited by Mark C. Carnes.  Hoyte’s biography by Gubert provides a more detailed account of her life as a collector and doll museum founder.  Much of the information written by Margaret Alic in a separately found online biography of Hoyte is the same as Gubert’s, which I have edited out to avoid repetition. 

“The oldest child of Moses Holder, a carpenter, and Rose Holder, who sewed hats for infants for a Manhattan department store,” Hoyte attended public schools and lived a comfortable life.  “Ironically,” Gubert writes, “the doll collector to be and her sister were forbidden to play with dolls when the younger girl, after chewing on the hands of her dolls, contracted lead poisoning. 

Hoyte was “always a collector,” wrote Gubert.  As an adult, “she began filling her home with antiques, ‘cutting her teeth’ with 1,500 china pitchers… She also collected china, cut glass, samplers, and richly carved furniture.”

Church and Community Involvement Led to Doll Collecting and the Museum
She was deeply involved in her church and community.  She taught Sunday school at her church, “directed a girls’ club and served on the church’s board for housing for the elderly.”  Her philanthropic endeavors included fundraisers to purchase an organ for the church. 

Hoyte’s 1962 doll exhibition to benefit the mental health clinic at Harlem “was a success financially, and it changed [her] life. For the next three decades, she collected dolls and their paraphernalia so earnestly that her collection became internationally known.  At first, Hoyte acquired her history of each doll and as a teacher, she saw that the dolls stimulated children’s curiosity about the past and provided a genuine interest in history.”  (Gubert cites Encore, 6 Dec 1976).

“Besides the dolls, Hoyte collected dollhouses, doll carriages, tea sets, stoves, toy schoolrooms, books, toy pianos, and other musical instruments.   She retired from teaching in 1970.  That year, using the name her students gave her, she incorporated her collection as Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum, on display in the basement of her home.  Visitors came by appointment only, and the entrance fees remained low for maximum accessibility.  With about 2,000 dolls, museum space was tight.  But collectors find room, and twenty years later the dolls possibly numbered 6,000 (New York Times, 9 Sept. 1999).”

A Closer Look At the Museum
“The museum was divided into five sections.  The Americana Room contained handmade cloth black dolls of the antebellum South, numerous Shirley Temples, and others of American manufacture.  The Schoenhut Room was devoted to the works of the renowned nineteenth-century doll maker and his Humpty-Dumpty Circus of forty animals and figures.  The Collector’s Room housed the rarest dolls by master doll makers, such as Leon Casimir Bru, Emile Jumeau, and Jules Nicholas Steiner, that ranged in size from miniature to over three feet.  The Dollhouse Pavilion, with an electrified dollhouse, and International Dolls completed the museum. 

Four black cloth dolls were included in the 1994 Sotheby's auction:  a stitched-face black cloth doll, two male fabric dolls, and a black stockinette doll, item numbers 430, 428, and 429, respectively.  (Photo scanned from the Sotheby's Sale 6644 catalog.)

“Hoyte regarded cloth dolls as her specialty, and at one time she planned to write a book about them but never did.  Highlights of the collection included wax-molded Nicholas and Alexandra of Russia in ermine and vermilion robes, an Edison talking doll, a doll of the Queen Anne period, an 1880 black Bru bisque head bébé in pink silk, and [the] two ‘crying babies’ of papier-mâché made by Leo Moss [Lillian and Leo]…  The large number of black dolls was remarkable for its range over time, place, and medium.  The doll dressed in silk tells one story, while the doll fashioned out of a small whisk broom and a nut tells another.  Collecting works of beauty, rarity, and craftsmanship, Hoyte also tried to keep the collection current and included Barbie, Ken, and Muhammad Ali.  A double doll of Flip Wilson and Geraldine [Shindana] was on the shelves along with the Three Stooges and W. C. Fields. 

• 

Sotheby's 1994 auction items 293, 292, 290, and 289 are German bisque dolls by Simon & Halbig circa 1889-1910. (Photo scanned from the Sotheby's Sale 6644 catalog.)

“Dolls from the collection won many awards in annual competitions.  During Black History Week in 1975 (changed to a month-long celebration in 1976), Hoyte showed twenty-four dolls at the American Museum of Natural History.  The exhibition, Historical Black Dolls, remained on display for six months. 

Auction items 371 from the Sotheby's 1994 auction included a "Pair of Composition [20-inch] Shoulder Head Black Dolls, 1920s with ethnic features, two female dolls, one with composed expression, hair piled up on head; other with broadly smiling mouth, topknot of hair both with fabric bodies, attenuated limbs, raffia skirts, necklaces, bracelets, and anklets."  Item 372, described by Sotheby's as "Amberg 'Oo-Gug-Luk' Composition Head Black Doll and a Composition Wood Warrior Doll... circa 1915, bearing original sewn-on label describing it as a 'Zulu Lucky Doll' originated and designed by J. W. Long; and a warrior toy with broad grin, painted eyes, necklace, and raffia skirt..." (Photo scanned from Sotheby's Sale 6644 catalog.)

“As the collection quickly grew in objects and popularity, Hoyte realized her one-woman operation would have to change.  She began to envision a much larger and permanent space so it could be a tool for education, a place where both children and adults could develop their ideas of the past.  She also wanted her home to remain as well: ‘I want the house to stay as it is, to be used to foster love.  There have been so many beautiful antique homes in Harlem, and so many collections, broken up.  It ought to be left’ (Encore, 5 Dec. 1976).  But for museum accreditation, the New York State Council on the Arts awarded Hoyte a small grant that enabled her to hire a part-time assistant.  With the help from the Community Service Society, Hoyte received a matching grant of $9,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts in the early 1980s.

“In 1990 New York City mayor Edward Koch presented the Mayoral Award of Honor for Art and Culture to Hoyte.  Her home was burglarized soon after, and nine dolls were stolen.  Later four of them—George Washington, Martha Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Benjamin Franklin—reappeared in the front parlor.  She asked no questions, but some few years later she closed the museum because she was no longer able to run it.  Hoyte sold thousands of her dolls before she put the rest up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York.  The auction on 16 December 1994 realized $742,854.”

Gubert cites the following sources for her biography on Lenon Holder Hoyte:

Sotheby’s catalog, The Collection of Lenon Holder Hoyte Exhibited as “Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum” (1994), contains an article from Dolls, Sept.-Oct. 1985 (Joseph Kelleher, “Her Home is Her Museum”), and two autobiographical sketches of Hoyte, although they are short on dates.  Copious photographs and detailed descriptions reveal the scope of the collection.  Other articles with helpful information include Ernest Swiggett, “Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum,” Unique NY, Sept. 1975, pp. 19 ff.; Sandy Satterwhite, “Aunt Len’s Fabulous Children,” Encore, 6 Dec. 1976, p. 36; Frank Hercules, “To Live in Harlem,” National Geographic, Feb. 1977, pp. 178-207; Anna Quindlen, “About New York,” New York Times, 13 May 1981; Carol Schatz, “Hoyte, Lady with Love for Dolls,” New York Amsterdam News, 16 Apr. 1983; and Jane Lusaka, “Aunt Len’s Doll and Toy Museum: Collector Lenon H. Hoyte Creates a Lasting Legacy,” Orator, Winter 1993, pp. 3-4.  An obituary is in the New York Times, 9 Sept. 1999.

Gubert's biography of Lenon Holder Hoyt can be read in full here.  

Additional Resources:
Lenon Hoyte Biography by Margaret Alic -- Alic cites the following:

Periodicals:
Atlanta Journal and Constitution, January 11, 2002.
Los Angeles Times, September 11, 1999, p. A18.
New York Times, January 2, 1989, p. A16; September 9, 1999, p. C22.
Newsday (Long Island, NY), May 28, 1991, p. 25

On-line:
"Toys in the Attic," Creative Loafing Atlanta, December 2004
Contemporary Black Biography, by the Gale Group, Inc.

The Collection of Lenon Holder Hoyte Exhibited as "Aunt Len's Toy and Doll Museum" Sotheby's auction catalog from December 16, 1994, often shows up on eBay.  It contains 491 black and white images of dolls from Aunt Len's Doll and Toy Museum. 

Lenon Holder Hoyte wrote a 44-page book sometime during the 1970s which features a few dolls from her collection.  It is entitled, Selected Dolls: From the Collector's Room, Aunt Len's Doll and Toy Museum, 6 Hamilton Terrace, New York, N.Y.  At the time this article was published, holders of Ms. Hoyte’s book included the University of Virginia Library and The Strong Brian Sutton-Smith Library and Archives of Play in Rochester, NY.

"All a doll needs to make it a collectors' item is a past."  Lenon Holder Hoyte