Josephine Bonaparte

From the moment Carol Cameron announced to us that the 2026 convention would be in New Orleans, we knew the convention souvenir doll had to be of French origin.

There had been a doll from Carol's collection that had always intrigued us. It was a rather pretty and early Grodnertal. She was the perfect size – 9 inches – and had unusual modeling with large eyes and a shy smile. Carol was gracious to let us use her for our inspiration doll. The next step was the easy one. Who was an elegant influential French lady, pretty, and who lived during the early 1800's? None other than Josephine Bonaparte.

Our version of Josephine has uncommon brown hair with tiny little curls framing and cascading all around her face, a gold crown, a muslin slip and the quintessential empire waisted silk chemise dress with gold trims, puff sleeves and sheer undersleeves that she made popular during her reign.

We present you The Carvers' Josephine Bonaparte, the timeless neoclassical goddess who revolutionized French fashion.

Napoleon Bonaparte

The souvenir companion was an obvious decision because who is Josephine without Napoleon? Making men dolls is always a bigger challenge with sometimes having to make as many as four prototypes before settling on a final version.

We decided on a younger Napoleon to accompany our youthful Josephine. Here is the vibrant young man in 1800 as Premier Consul of France prior to his metamorphosis into the embattled Emperor. His full head of tousled dark brown hair frame his slender and chiseled face. He sports the ceremonial dress of a red wool waistcoat and short trousers trimmed with elaborate gold embellishments, his black boots adorned with gold tassels, and his gold sword. His hat is a faithful recreation of his famous black felt bicorn hat with an early French cockade wearing it the way he always wore it "en Bataille" with the corns parallel to his shoulders.

We present you the young Napoleon, already well on his way to becoming one of the most famous French General Commanders.