French Couture Dolls, Steiff Bears and Hollywood Glamour in a Venetian Villa

In this story: Vintage Days at the Villa ↓ The Baroque Chapel and Historic Orchard ↓ Your Private Occasion Among the Gardens ↓ Why Visit Villa Sesso Bordignon in Vicenza? ↓ French Couture in Miniature ↓ The Collector's Rooms ↓ Hollywood Comes to the Piano Nobile ↓ Steiff, Furga and the Art of Play ↓

VINTAGE DAYS AT THE VILLA

Villa Sesso Bordignon has given its collection a contemporary public life.

The programme Giocattoli e Vintage in Villa combines historic toys with selected vintage sellers, bringing dolls, model cars, retro games, clothes, furnishings and collecting objects into the villa and its grounds. [1]

On these occasions, visitors can explore the vintage market and arrange access to the permanent toy collection on the piano nobile.

The programme is especially interesting because the historic collections and the objects offered at the market occupy the same setting. A visitor can encounter antique dolls within the noble residence and browse more recent twentieth century design in the grounds.

For 2026, the published vintage calendar includes 22 March, 14 June, 6 September and 6 December. Dates and activities for subsequent editions should be checked with the organiser.

THE BAROQUE CHAPEL AND HISTORIC ORCHARD

The villa's gardens preserve another dimension of Venetian country life: the estate includes an old brolo, a walled orchard and productive garden traditionally associated with Veneto villas, along with mature trees, ornamental planting and spaces once connected with the agricultural life of the property. [2]

There is also a small Baroque chapel, completed in 1714 and dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin, Saint Bernardino of Siena and Saint Gaetano Thiene.

The chapel is especially rewarding for its sculptural decoration. Three figures crown the façade, Christ the Redeemer, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, attributed to the circle of the celebrated Bassano sculptor Orazio Marinali. [3]

Inside, the altar combines stone sculpture, painted angels, cherubs, flowers and fruit. The central Assumption is accompanied by Saint Gaetano and Saint Bernardino, with works associated with the sculptor Giacomo Cassetti.

The intimacy of this small chapel offers a very different atmosphere from the villa's larger reception rooms, making the garden, oratory and toy collection three distinct chapters of the same visit.

A PRIVATE OCCASION AMONG THE GARDENS

Villa Sesso Bordignon also offers private use of its historic spaces for personal celebrations, cultural gatherings, dinners and special occasions. [4]

The central reception rooms, garden and historic chapel give the estate several contrasting settings, with the atmosphere changing between the eighteenth century interiors and the greenery outside.

The property also offers arrangements for private receptions and ceremonies. The consecrated chapel has a published maximum capacity of eighty guests, although individual arrangements, permitted uses and access conditions need to be confirmed directly.

For a collector's gathering, an intimate birthday, a family celebration or a cultural evening, the most interesting possibility is the combination of historic architecture, gardens and a house devoted in part to the preservation of beautiful objects.

The villa does not advertise a public overnight accommodation programme. Exclusive use of the complete estate, the collection rooms or the chapel must be confirmed for the proposed occasion.

WHY VISIT VILLA SESSO BORDIGNON IN VICENZA?

The attraction brings together several cultural interests rarely encountered in one historic residence: French nineteenth century fashion dolls, Italian and German toy design, Hollywood inspired fashion collections, a Venetian aristocratic house and an early eighteenth century chapel.

The Strong National Museum of Play, Victoria and Albert Museum, Smithsonian and Museo del Giocattolo Furga document the wider historical significance of the objects represented in the collection. At Sandrigo, those international histories of fashion and play become part of a visit to a private Italian villa. [5, 6, 7, 8, 9]

CAN YOU VISIT THE VINTAGE TOY COLLECTION?

Yes. Guided visits include the villa, historic park, chapel and collection on the piano nobile. The collection is also accessible on selected vintage market dates. Advance reservation is required for guided visits. [1]

CAN YOU BUY VINTAGE TOYS AT THE VILLA?

Yes, during the scheduled Giocattoli e Vintage in Villa markets. The programme includes vintage toys, dolls, games, models and other collectible objects. The historic collections themselves should be understood as private displays, separate from the market stalls. [1]

FRENCH COUTURE IN MINIATURE

A doll can preserve an entire history of fashion in the space of a wardrobe.

At Villa Sesso Bordignon in Sandrigo, Vicenza, a collection assembled over more than fifty years includes nineteenth century French Jumeau porcelain dolls, a name associated with some of the most exquisite miniature fashions of Victorian Europe. [10]

The Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York, traces the extraordinary development of the Parisian house. Founded by Pierre Jumeau in the nineteenth century, the company employed dressmakers, tailors, leather workers and milliners to produce dolls whose clothing reflected contemporary French couture. [5]

The dresses were important enough to become ambassadors of Parisian taste abroad. Later Jumeau models introduced intricate mechanisms, including moving eyelids and even experiments with recorded voices. The historical significance of these objects reaches beyond childhood. Their tiny wardrobes preserve the materials, silhouettes and social expectations of a period when French fashion was becoming an international language of luxury.

At Villa Sesso Bordignon, they have found an unexpectedly appropriate setting: the upper rooms of a Venetian aristocratic residence.

THE COLLECTOR'S ROOMS

The collection owes its existence to Susanna, whose family passion for historic dolls and toys developed over more than five decades. [10] It occupies rooms on the piano nobile, the principal floor traditionally reserved for the private and ceremonial life of an Italian noble household.

The collection spans very different ideas of childhood and design from Porcelain Jumeau dolls to Historic Steiff.

What distinguishes the experience is the range of cultural worlds represented. Victorian Paris, twentieth century Italy, German toy manufacture and Hollywood costume fantasy appear within the rooms of the same historic villa.

HOLLYWOOD COMES TO THE PIANO NOBILE

One of the most intriguing names in the collection is Gene Marshall.

In December 2025, a second collector, Elisa Rolle, introduced a room dedicated to Barbie and Gene Marshall, adding another generation of fashion and collecting to the house. [11]

Created by American illustrator Mel Odom and introduced in 1995, Gene was conceived as a fictional movie star from Hollywood's Golden Age. Her clothes drew on the glamorous cinema wardrobes of the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, recalling the world of legendary costume designer Edith Head. [8] The Strong National Museum of Play preserves Gene Marshall dolls and costumes as examples of fashion dolls designed for adult collectors.

In presenting her Collector's Room in December 2025, Rolle reported assembling more than two hundred Gene Marshall dolls and over one hundred and fifty complete outfits, alongside her collection of Barbie dolls and their accessories. [11] Barbie, Introduced by Mattel in 1959, she became one of the world's defining fashion dolls, a subject explored by the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History as an expression of changing attitudes towards femininity, careers, fashion and popular culture. [9]

STEIFF, FURGA AND THE ART OF PLAY

The collection extends into the history of industrial design and craftsmanship.

Historic Steiff animals recall one of Germany's most influential toy manufacturers. In 1902, Richard Steiff created a jointed mohair bear whose design helped establish the modern teddy bear. The Victoria and Albert Museum has studied the material construction, conservation and collecting history of early teddy bears, recognising them as objects of textile craftsmanship as well as childhood affection. [7]

Furga offers a distinctly Italian counterpart.

The company originated at Canneto sull'Oglio in Lombardy during the late nineteenth century and grew into one of Italy's important doll manufacturers. The Museo del Giocattolo Furga documents how the factory's production developed from early composition and porcelain dolls to fashionable teenage figures during the 1960s. [6]

The celebrated Susanna, Sylvie and Sheila dolls, introduced in 1965, reflected contemporary actresses, singers, hairstyling and clothing. Their wardrobes were filled with accessories, from handbags and jewellery to shoes and miniature furniture.