The Van Boxel family (Jos and Bets) of the Netherlands founded De Poppenstee in 1986 and since that time Bets, and later her daughter Amy, have produced incredibly realistic and beautiful porcelain character dolls in very limited editions. Their dolls portray children of many races and ethnicities from around the world and are some of the most exceptional we have seen. The naturalistic style, exquisite coloration and expressiveness that Van Boxel sculpts embody must be seen to be believed. These heirloom pieces will be cherished by generations to come and pointed to as emblematic of our contemporary doll art movement. They represent the maturity of a time-honored tradition and, with the work of other artist friends, the very zenith of doll art.