A woman who has amassed a collection of 1,000 porcelain dolls over 20 years shared that the roots of her hobby lie in heartbreak.
Lynn Emdin, 59, from Vereeniging, South Africa, searches for the dolls on second-hand websites and then lovingly restores them to their original condition.
The mother of four dresses them in custom-made clothes and gives them a splash of perfume before installing the dolls in their new home: a large shed in her garden.
Lynn, who also works in her family’s auto parts and accessories business, says the hobby (and her ‘She Shed’) has become a safe haven.
The passion began 20 years ago when family friend Michael Tolmay gave her a porcelain doll named Rose for her birthday.
Lynn Emdin (pictured), 59, is the proud owner of 1,000 porcelain dolls, which she houses in a garden shed known as ‘She Shed’.
Two months later, he tragically died in a motorcycle accident, at just 21 years old.
“Michael was my children’s best friend and like one of my own,” she said. ‘Every time I look at Rose, I remember Michael.
“From then on my love for porcelain dolls grew and I collected them wherever I could.”
Since then, Lynn has rescued dolls from Facebook Marketplace, among other buying and selling communities.
She said: ‘I’m a mother of four children and sometimes I think I started the collection because I didn’t have daughters.
“I’ve driven all over to pick them up and each one comes with its own story.”
However, his sons, Juan-Pierre, 40, Collin, 39, Sheldon, 28, and Ashton, 27, roll their eyes at his growing collection.
Lynn, originally from Vereeniging, South Africa, dresses her dolls in custom-made clothes and sprays each one with a dab of perfume before setting them up in the shed.
While Lynn’s four children roll their eyes at Lynn’s hobby, her sister Laurelle shares her passion and makes clothes for the dolls.
Lynn shared that her passion for porcelain dolls was inspired by a friend of her children, Michael Tolmay, who gave her a doll named Rose 20 years ago. When Michael died in an accident at the age of 21, she was inspired to build his collection.
She said: “I’ve already been told that I have to light a match and burn everything in my shed the day I leave this Earth.”
But her husband Rick, 65, fully supports her.
He said: ‘Just this weekend he received two more.
“They were very dirty and, as with all the dolls Lynn receives, she bathes, washes and cares for the little ones until they shine.”
Lynn said, “Rick will drive with me to pick up the dolls; he is my biggest supporter.”
‘It breaks my heart to see the dolls so neglected.
‘Some of them even had bugs in their hair when I bought them.
‘I clean them very well and dress them in the clothes that my sister Laurelle custom-makes for me.
Lynn’s husband Rick (pictured), 65, supports her hobby and happily spends time driving around the country to collect new dolls.
The ‘She Shed’ was created especially for the dolls and Lynn has decorated the interior to make it more homely.
“And then when they’re clean, I spray them with perfume so they smell nice and I talk to them and say, ‘Wow, look how clean you look now.'”
Lynn built her giant shed to store her treasure.
Each of their ‘babies’ is wrapped in plastic to preserve their pristine appearance.
They are stored on specially constructed shelves or carefully packed in boxes when you run out of space.
Their extensive collection includes dolls of all shapes and sizes.
There are even two porcelain nuns, dressed in habits and wearing sunglasses.
It seems that the love for dolls also runs in the family.
Lynn’s sister-in-law, Annette Emdin, is the owner of Annie’s Doll Museum and Hospital, where the avid fan collects dolls, games, vintage toys and military collections.
The mother of four wraps each of her dolls in plastic to ensure they remain in perfect condition.
Lynn. Since she has four sons, she believes her hobby was fueled by the fact that she has no daughters.
She said: ‘I have a red-haired doll adorned in a snow-white christening dress.
‘A woman contacted me and gave them to me.
“They wear the baptismal clothes that belonged to the woman’s children.”
The couple isn’t sure how much they have spent on the collection, but they say there isn’t much money to be made on restored porcelain dolls unless they are very rare.
Rick, a radio host, added: “We paid at most £10 (R250) for the doll Lynn really wanted.
‘There are porcelain dolls imported from Taiwan and I once saw one in a museum worth about £7,500 (R180,000).
“But it’s not easy to find those dolls in South Africa.”