Biography of Gotz Doll Artist JOKE GROBBEN

*Joke Grobben,* a Dutch doll artist was born in 1945 in The Hague, Netherlands.1,2 *Joke* is a student of sculpture in both *The Hague* and *Florence*, *Italy.2* In 1975, her doll artistry career began with her friend's (and first client) commission of sculptured busts (i.e. a sculptured, life-like "portrait") of children.1 She describes one of her greatest accomplishments as being asked by Götz to design dolls, which she has been doing from 19932 in the handcrafted *Principessa* and her designer doll line until 2006(?). Prior to designing for Götz, Joke designed dolls for *The Hamilton Collection.* *Joke* also designed the head, hands, and feet for several of *Marie Osmond's* porcelain line of dolls.

The information provided on *Joke Grobben* below was provided directly by Götz:

> *After studying sculpture at the Veije (Free) Academy in Den Haag, Joke Grobben sculptured her first doll in 1975 almost by mistake. A customer, for whom she sculptured busts of children, inquired about a lifelike doll. From then on Joke Grobben specialised in dolls that are mirror images of children. Joke has always been fascinated by children because of their innocent and at the same time knowing expression. Joke says, "Character attributes that later show more definitely in adulthood, are already visible in a child's face." After her first exhibition in 1978 in Den Haag, more were to follow in Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Monaco, Japan, and Indonesia. Joke Grobben developed a special technique of modelling for her dolls, which she published in several books. These publications opened up a new hobby for many people. Joke won the International Doll Show Public's Choice Award in 1992 in Ahoy, Rotterdam. In 1994, Joke Grobben published her latest book. She held courses about the production of dolls in Jakarta, Indonesia and Curacao amongst others.*
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## *Her Inspiration*

*Joke's* children and the children from her travels around the world serve as the inspirations for her dolls.1

> *I love children a lot. This is the reason, why the creation of children's dolls became my passion. When I meet children, the small faces always have a deep impression in me and inspire the creation of my dolls.5*
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## *Artist Quotes*

* *I am particularly attracted by the many different types of expressions on children's faces. I can express many of my own moods and feelings in my dolls.3*
* *Love is the inspiration in me for everything that I do. It makes me and the people around me happy. This feeling is also represented in my creations and in the world that we have today. I think this is needed.4*

## More About Her Collection

Joke's Götz collection consists of vinyl or porcelain reproductions of dolls from original masterpieces.5 Each doll is produced up to a limited number.5 Each doll has a wig of real hair or mohair and each doll has mouth blown glass crystal eyes.5 Outfits are produced from high quality materials with "lots of love of detail."5

## Doll Body Types

There are several different doll body types in Joke's collection.

Some early soft-bodied dolls do not have an internal skeleton in their legs; their gusseted hips and knees allow them to maintain a sitting position. These dolls still classify as "sitting" dolls.Soft-bodied doll with full faux suede doll torso. Limbs contain internal wire armature, also known as a "skeleton" that allows the doll to be fully posable.Soft-bodied doll with vinyl breastplate; WEICHKÖRPERPUPPE VOLL BEWEGLICH. Neck is jointed; limbs contain internal wire armature making the doll *fully posable.* Note: some dolls have varying ratios of vinyl on their arms and lower legs.Soft-bodied, stuffed cloth WEICHBABY baby doll. Neck is fixed in position and can manually rotate in doll torso; both shoulders move. Doll can sit unaided but cannot stand.
## Index of Götz Collections

The following tables contain a list of Joke Grobben's Götz collection for each year. To learn more about a specific doll, click on it's name, in purple, which will take you to the doll's individual article and/or category.

1994 CHARLENE1994 DEWI1994 BART1994 CATHERINE

1995 ROSANNE1995 FIFIANE1995 TOETI1995 CHANTAL1995 MIGNON1995 CHARLENE (porcelain)1995 DEWI (porcelain)

1996 SAVANYA1996 CLAUDIA1996 SAYA1996 FREDERIQUE1996 SHANTI

1997 CELESTE1997 GABRIELLE1997 FABIENNE1997 ANNABELLE1997 JENNA

1998 SASKIA1998 IRIS1998 SVENJA1998 SVEN1998 MARCELLE - 25th Anniversary1998 MAURIEN1998 MARC (with his STEIFF bear)1998 ELINE

1999 ASHLEY1999 AISCHA (right) with ROHAN (left)1999 VIOLA1999 RENALDO1999 GWENDOLYN (porcelain)

2000 AYA2000 MARIJE & POPPETJE (the dolly)2000 CELINA (left) & POPPETJE (right)2000 STEPHANIE2000 EVA2000 FEMKE2000 ANNE-MARIE

2001 FRANKA2001 NAOMI2001 SUE YIN2001 WILLEMIJN & POPPETJE2001 MICHANOU2001 FEMKE

2002 CHALLABRE2002 DESIREE2002 INANNA (and her brother)2002 LAKSHMI2002 MAREIKE

2003 KIKI2003 ZANZI2003 TAMARAH2003 ISABELLE

*\*Collection index may be incomplete.*

*\*\*It is possible this doll was produced in both 2004 and 2005; until a doll tag shows the catalog code, it has been placed in both years.*

2004 MILA2004 LEA2004-2005? JULIA

*\* Collection year may be incomplete.*

*\*\*It is possible this doll was produced in both 2004 and 2005; until a doll tag shows the catalog code, it has been placed in both years.*

2005 KARA2005 LOUISE - Porcelain

2006\* ART INDEX

*\*Collection index may be incomplete.*

2006 DAISY

## Different Neckstamp Markings

You will find all of JOKE GROBBEN's Götz dolls marked on the back of the neck with her unique initialized signature - a "J" and "K" (intermixed) with a large, encircling "G" with a "Götz" logo. Please note: for indexing purposes, Joke's neckstamp signature is referred to as simply "JKG."

Looking for a doll's identity based upon its specific neckstamp marking? Simply click a photo below to be redirected to a category that contains all currently identified dolls with facial molds that share it.

*Note: Only dolls with verified neckstamp markings will appear in a category; dolls with unverified neckstamp markings will be in the UNKNOWN category.*

No neckstamp photo: 359-24 JKG Götz(?)No neckstamp photo: 366-24 JKG Götz(?)402-24 Götz JKG403-22 Götz JKGGötz 620-20 JKGNo neckstamp photo: Götz JKG 406(?)Götz JKG 437 22Götz JKG 439-22Götz JKG 473Götz JKG 477Götz JKG 577Götz JKG 671No neckstamp photo: JKG GötzNo neckstamp photo: JKG Götz 258PNo neckstamp photo: JKG Götz 289/22JKG Götz 290/22(?)JKG Götz 296/22No neckstamp photo: JKG Götz 300/18?JKG Götz 309-24JKG Götz 322-22JKG Götz 336-22JKG Götz 404-20JKG Götz 514-22No neckstamp photo: JKG Götz 93 205 20.JKG Götz 93 258
## References

1. *Collection 2003. Collection 2003,* Emil Patzschke GmbH & Co. KG, 2003.
2. *Künstlerpuppen Collection 2001*. *Künstlerpuppen Collection 2001*, Louis Hofmann, 2001.
3. This information comes directly from the 1995 Götz Art Catalog.
4. This information comes directly from the 1998 Götz Art Catalog.
5. This information comes from the Götz hangtag included with 1998 MARC.