Kate Pinsent is best known for her wonderful range of dolls, offered not only from a variety of historical periods, but also in three different scales. Fancy a Tudor working family or a Victorian nursery maid? Waifs fit for a Dickens novel or a Regency gentleman? 1:12 scale, 1:24 scale or even 1:48 scale? Not a problem: Kate will have it covered. She also creates a small number of other intriguing little bits and bobs, such as the Punch and Judy doorstops I’ve bought for our Day Nursery.
Kate’s shop continues a doll-making business set up by her mother Jill Bennett, which traded as ‘J Designs Dolls’. Jill’s dolls were innovative, with limbs made from wire which could be posed much more easily than traditional dolls. When Kate took over the business, she also continued this winning formula. Having initially adopted the trading name ‘K Designs’, Kate changed to her current ‘Kate Pinsent Dolls’ name in 2013. Her stand is always one of the most appealing at fairs and, although I don’t yet have any of her dolls myself, my mother-in-law has one and thinks it’s utterly delightful.
Here are the works by Kate in the Quartermaine Hall collection so far:
Punch and Judy Doorstops
A pair of quirky doorstops for the nursery by Kate Pinsent (2021.080.1-2)
Quartermaine Hall 