Born into a socially prominent "Old Guard" family, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (1929€“1994) was one of the most public and yet most private of persona. In 1953, this poised, soft-spoken, and intelligent young woman married John F. Kennedy, then senator from Massachusetts. Kennedy's election to the Presidency in 1960 would catapult this shy and sedate wife into the national and international spotlight, and she would go on to become one of the world's most admired and emulated women.
Artist Tom Tierney pays tribute to this fascinating lady in a meticulously researched and excellently rendered paper doll collection. Five dolls, along with two figures representing her husbands, depict the former First Lady as a child, a debutante, a charming White house hostess, a young widow, and, in later life, the wife of Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Accompanying the dolls are 27 costumes, among them a wedding dress of ivory white silk taffeta worn by the young bride in 1953, exquisitely tailored suits and dresses for day wear, a number of evening gowns for White House galas and receptions, a ski suit, and the beige chiffon wedding dress worn by Mrs. Kennedy when she married Onassis in 1968.
