Wooden Dolls

Alexander Girard (1907-1993) was an American designer whose influence spanned textiles, interiors, graphics, and objects. He served as director of Herman Miller's textile division for over two decades and is widely regarded as one of the most important colorists and pattern-makers of the twentieth century. His personal collection of folk art, including the Wooden Dolls, reflected a belief that handcraft and modernism could coexist.

Yes. Each figure is fabricated and painted by hand, following the same process used for Girard's 1952 originals. Because hand-painting introduces natural variation, no two dolls are precisely alike, making each one a singular object.

The figures are carved from wood and finished with hand-applied paint. The re-editions replicate the material character of the vintage originals held in the Vitra Design Museum's Girard estate collection.

Vitra developed the re-editions directly from the 1952 originals, which are part of the Girard estate in the Vitra Design Museum's holdings. Every detail, from form to painted finish, was documented and replicated as faithfully as handcraft allows.

Girard himself arranged them in considered groupings that mixed human and animal characters at varying scales. Architects and designers often treat them as a collected body rather than individual accents, allowing the variety of silhouettes and painted gestures to build a sense of narrative across a shelf, console, or table.