Costume doll
Category
Dolls
Date
circa 1950 - circa 1959
Materials
Composition doll
Measurements
Adult - 250 mm (height), Child - 137 mm (height)
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 658912
Summary
A 1950s (possibly) national costume doll (also known as souvenir, world costume, tourist and foreign travel dolls) made to resemble a Japanese man carrying a child on his back. The adult is described, on the box label, as male and Japanese. Adult doll with composition head with moulded and painted facial features and painted black hair, the body probably of stuffed fabric. Fabric upper arms jointed at the shoulder and composition forearms; fabric thighs jointed at the hips and composition shins and feet. The doll wears a yellow, brown and white patterned shirt fastened on the right with loops and knotted buttons; black trousers, the legs painted to simulate white socks and red shoes. The child is carried in a sling tied across the chest and waist of the adult doll. The child has a composition head with moulded and painted features, composition forearms and composition shins, the body of stuffed fabric. The child wears a blue, white, orange and green patterned suit; the legs painted white and red to simulate socks and shoes. Costume dolls representing people of different nationalities in their local dress have been made since the mid-19th century. As global travel expanded ‘world’ dolls were produced as tourist souvenirs as well as children’s toys. They appear in a variety of media, from paper to porcelain, polymer to plastic. Produced to be instantly recognisable and collectible, ‘world’ dolls can portray a stereotypical view of peoples and cultural identities.
Provenance
One doll from a collection of costume dolls donated by Mr R.T. Macfarlane in 1976.