A lifelike doll of Dutch Princess Catharina-Amalia (or Amalia for short) is going on display in Amsterdam at the Art Dolls Expo this weekend. Amalia is the eldest daughter of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima and holds the title of Princess of Orange.
The 69 centimetres tall doll, made in the image of the 14-year-old future Queen of the Netherlands, was created by Russian doll maker Elena Timkaeva. Princess Amalia did not pose for the artist; so instead, Timkaeva made it by looking at photographs.
Art and Dolls Exhibit/Yuliana Taranova
It will be auctioned off on Catawiki after its appearance at the Expo.
Lalita van Lamsweerde, the coordinator of this year’s Expo, told RTL Nieuws, “Two months of hard work went into this. The dress is hand painted; the shoes are made of leather and lama hair was used for the hair.”
Art and Dolls Exhibit/Yuliana Taranova
Even though artistic dolls are not as popular in the Netherlands as in other parts of the world like Eastern Europe, Japan or the United States, the dolls are expected to fetch a significant sum. Van Lamsweerde added to RTL regarding the Amalia doll, “We hope that the Amalia doll will also be auctioned for a lot of money. We can not sell it for less than 1,500 euros.”
The money raised will be to benefit the Make a Wish Foundation in the Netherlands called Make-a-Wish Nederland.
Art and Dolls Exhibit/Yuliana Taranova
This is not the first time a Dutch princess has been made into a doll. In 2015, Amalia’s grandmother, Princess Beatrix was made into a doll that was also on display during the ArtDoll International Expo that ran from 9-10 April 2016. Elena Timkaeva also created Beatrix’s doll.
The Art Dolls Expo, under the theme of “Make a Wish” will run from 14-15 April at the Dansmakers studio with over 30 artists from Russia, Ukraine, Latvia and the Netherlands taking part.
More information about the Art Dolls Expo can be found here.
