"Idoling" Pym

I would like to begin a serious of posts on how dolls, figurines, and similar collectibles fit into Pym's world.  As a collector, doll blogger, doll author, and doll expert guide (about.com Doll Collecting), I have always been interested in how these small details affect Pym.

In fact, Marcia's milk bottles and plastic bags have been written up in S. Pearce's "The Collector's Voice; Modern Voices."

In "The Subversion of Romance in the Novels of Barbara Pym", I talked about the Bishop's soap animals, and again, from QIA, Norman's stuffed animals, taxidermy, at the museum.

Father Christmas figures, collected by doll enthusiasts appear.  So do Cycladic, idols, which doll historians have written up for centuries.

Other characters collect as well.  One "mentally" collects unusual license plates, while one character has a Faberge Egg.  Leonora Eyre of "The Sweet Dove Died" has lovely things, and has a relationships with a young antique dealer/auctioneer.

Jumble sales and bazaar's are vintage Pym, as are the "bits and pieces" that make up decor for her characters' homes.

Pym was a fan of Denton Welch, who collected doll houses and miniatures. She understood material culture and the importance of small things, and once commented on having studied and read Proust, who was also aware of material objects, that any ordinary woman's possessions would have been just as interesting.

So, let me know where you spot the collectibles and figurines in Pym.  I'd love to see photos, too, and to do a series of posts.