Natural fiber doll maker Marie King Gleeson has been deceased for several years, but her work continues to influence the craft in Bermuda.
One of the artists she has inspired is Ronnie Chameau who runs Carter House in St. David’s. As a little girl, Ronnie would often find herself in Marie’s shop on Featherbed Alley in St. Georges. She often stopped to chat with her and would admire the life sized doll that Marie had made out of natural materials to take centre stage in the store. Marie would never reveal her secrets to anyone who asked. She begged her mother for one of Marie’s dolls and finally her mother bought her one. It cost a pretty penny in those days. Ronnie still has it along with several others she has since successfully bid for on eBay for considerably more than it was originally sold for.
Trembling grass, sago palm tendrils, banana leaves and walnuts were just some of the materials that Marie gathered to make her dolls. The walnuts would be used to make the face, and she would painstakingly crochet shawls for her dolls out of palmetto leaves. Sometimes, she would send the neighbourhood children out to look for materials.
She was born in December 1902 and married William Gleeson. They lived at Wistowe in Flatts near the Aquarium for many years. She started making dolls in the late 1930s. She was not alone as there were several other women in Bermuda who made similar crafts. Natural fibre dolls, or banana leaf dolls as they are called in Bermuda, originated in Africa and came to North America with African slaves. In days gone by, the craft was commonly found in the Deep South in the United States. In Mississippi, and other southern states, dolls were made using a nut for the head, wool for hair and the shawl would be knitted or woven from marsh reeds. The dress was often made from tobacco leaves.
Marie also created art from drift wood and made decorative lamps, among other things. She and her husband had one daughter, Deane, who is now deceased. Early on in their marriage the couple worked for The Shore Hills Hotel in St. Georges and remained with the property for a time when it transferred to the Bermuda Biological Station for Research (BBSR) now the Bermuda Institute for Ocean Sciences (BIOS). They left in the late 1930s and William became a bulk depot superintendent.
Marie died in 1987. Today some of her work can be seen at Carter House. Ronnie has had to repair a few that fell victim to mildew, but for the most part they remain just as she made them sixty or seventy years ago. Her dolls are now highly sought after collectors’ items inside and outside of Bermuda, and can sometimes be found for sale on websites such as Ebay. A private collection of Gleeson dolls was shown a few years ago at the Bermuda National Gallery.
