Petite Guerre Toy Soldiers: Farm girl

I had always wished to add some civilians to my range of toy soldiers, and thinking that a female figure might be a welcome exception among the usual martial subjects, I decided to sculpt a farm girl.

To start with, I sculpted an all-purpose, naked female mannequin that I could dress-up as required, but also use as the base for future female figures. Understandably enough, I wanted a good-looking young woman, slender and well-proportioned, yet by no means a pin-up. About 52-mm high, the figure represents a woman 1.66-m tall, a quite handsome female specimen if a bit tall for 18^th Century standards…

Sculpting the face was a bit of a challenge. I wanted it to look feminine, of course, but also realistic. It took some times, but all in all I am quite satisfied with the result…

I sculpted the young woman’s hair gathered in a knot at the back of her head, by far the prevailing hairstyle in 18^th-Century Europe, and one also common in the 17^th and most of the 19^th Century. Leaving the ears and neck free, this hair arrangement also increases the figure’s conversion potential.

The woman’s hands and feet were also a bit difficult to sculpt, on account of their much smaller dimensions when compared to those of a male figure…

Having completed my naked figure and made a rubber mold, I cast one resin mannequin and proceeded to dress it up. As usual, I first gathered some pictorial information from art books and the Internet, and duly read up on the subject in order to familiarize with 18^th-Century working-class woman’s costume.

Perhaps not surprisingly, I found that the general appearance of the common people in 18^th-Century Europe was strikingly similar throughout the Continent, with the exception perhaps of the more isolated and remote areas (the Highlands of Scotland, the Alps, the Pyrenees), or outlying regions much exposed to non-European influence (the Balkans, Russia).

Thus, the look of a peasant girl in her everyday attire would have been much the same in, say, France, Flanders, Alsace, Bohemia, Bavaria, Britain or Italy (or, for that matter, in the European colonies overseas).

Our farm girl would have worn a linen shirt reaching down to about her mid-thighs (the only piece of underwear worn by 18^th-Century people, both men and women) with sleeves sewn to it, sometimes in such a way as to leave the shoulders exposed; a sleeveless bodice designed to support and push up her breasts rather than to cover them (sleeves could be attached to the bodice in cold weather, or in formal occasions); a petticoat, or skirt, reaching down to her mid-calves or ankles, tied at the waist by means of a cord or ribbon, fitted with side slits for reaching detached pockets hanging under it from a narrow belt or waist string (additional skirts could be worn one on top of the other, the outermost one sometimes gathered at the hips by means of special loops); an apron, equally tied at the waist. Most likely, she would also have worn a cap or bonnet, and maybe a shawl. In fair weather, she would have worn no stockings, and would have gone bare-footed, or perhaps have worn wooden shoes.