Well, hello dollies! The astonishing collection of antiques worth a whopping £1.23m that fills a house
- Massive range includes dolls of Henry VIII and his six wives to opium smuggling figurine from the 1880s
- Owner claims: 'We even bought a bigger house so that we could store them all!'
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:32 PM on 22nd June 2011
Kathy Libraty is barely visible hidden amongst her astonishing collection of antique dolls - worth an astonishing £1.23million.
Almost every inch of the 52-year-old's home in Brooklyn, New York, is filled by the hoard of more than 1,000 figurines which she has been collecting for over 25 years.
She is so obsessed with dolls she has resorted to smuggling any new additions to the rapidly extending collection past her long-suffering husband Frank who has forbidden her to buy any more.
Blending in: Kathy Libraty and daughter Elisa with just some of the massive collection of antique dolls
But despite his objections, Frank, 52, along with daughter Elisa, get roped in to helping her repair and organise the vast assortment.
Kathy's dolls - ranging from 2in to over 3ft high - come from all over the world including countries like Germany, France and the Far East. Some individual models are over 170 years old and range in cost from 60p to £30,000.
Some of her favourites include figures of Henry VIII and his six wives, Victorian dolls from the 1900s, voodoo dolls, and even some from the 1880s which were used to smuggle opium.
They're everywhere: A sideboard packed with yet more figurines
Two of Kathy's favourites: A Chinese opera doll from the late 19th century and a German antique black and white from around 1900
Kathy said: 'It all started over 25 years ago when I found an antique doll discarded in a dumpster.
'My husband and I were driving through our neighbourhood and came upon an old house that was having it's antique contents cleared out.
'It looked like there were some really valuable and interesting old treasures just being scrapped, so we asked if we could keep anything we liked. A few boxes contained old dolls and doll clothes and I decided to keep and restore them.'
Once she had 'the bug' Kathy's collection grew and grew.
And it eventually became work for her as she started her company kathylibratysdolls.com.
A family affair: A range of all-bisque dolls made by the German manufacturer Kestner between 1895-1910. Each figure is worth between £600 and £750
In her pursuit for yet more dolls, devoted Kathy has travelled more than 100,000 miles on trips between America and Europe - where most of the dolls were made.
She added: 'I began restoring many of the dolls I acquired through auctions I'd travel around the world for.'
'Some I would restore and then sell to other collectors. Others I just fell in love with and had to add to my personal collection at home.
'My daughter loves the dolls too and she will inherit everything.
'It got to a point where I was sneaking them in past Frank because we were running out of room. We even bought a bigger house so that we could store them all.
'But I just couldn't part with some.'
That's some dolls' house: Kathy and husband Frank needed to buy a new home in order to store the ever-expanding collection
Kathy sorts her new arrivals at home and seeks out clothing and accessories to try and make the antiques as close to their original forms as possible.
She uses an extensive library of books and catalogues to help her find the correct fashions and accessories for the different periods in which the dolls were made.
Some items, like shoes and wigs - made from real hair - can cost as much as £1,000.
Her personal collection is stored in different rooms around her large home. New arrivals go first to her triage room where she sorts them according to style and determines what work they need.
If they need repairing she moves them to the attic workshop where Frank helps to repair broken limbs and other damages.
Over the years she has built up a huge array of spare parts including wigs, body parts and hand-blown glass eyes made in France and Germany.
Later Kathy either auctions them through her website - helped by daughter Elisa - or adds them to her colossal private reserve.
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