Doll
Category
Dolls
Date
Unknown
Materials
Plaster, Textile, Wood
Measurements
290 mm (H)
Order this imageCollection
Penrhyn Castle, Gwynedd
NT 278028
Summary
Baby doll representing a Native American child swaddled in a brown checked blanket in a cradleboard. The doll has a plaster head with painted features. The head is covered, with short black hair poking out. This is an example of the so-called 'Skookum' doll, a type of tourist or souvenir doll manufactured and distributed on the east coast of the United States of America by the Arrow Novelty company, New York. The dolls were designed by Mary Dwyer McAboy (1876-1961) after 'apple-head' dolls she carved and played with as a child. They portray Native American peoples in stylised, stereotypical ways.