Doll's cradle
Category
Dolls' accessories
Date
circa 1900
Materials
Metal, wood, textiles
Measurements
314 mm (length of cradle); 255 mm (length of doll)
Place of origin
England
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 660039
Summary
A varnished wooden cradle containing a wax-headed doll (circa 1900). The doll has blue eyes and moulded and painted facial features. Her body is stuffed, her legs below the knee are wax. She wears a white linen dress with a red button on the bodice. She is glued into the cradle by her hair and may also have been glued in the small of her back. There is a white satin lace edged coverlet over her. Her cradle is part of what appears to be a scientific apparatus, possibly to demonstrate the rate at which the cradle rocks at different settings. At the foot end it has an arrow like bar of metal which pivots on a solid cylindrical metal pillar with a pointed brass top. At the head end another vertical metal bar projects upwards. On it is mounted a circular brass weight which can be moved up and down. The head of the cradle pivots on a horizontal metal bar mounted between 2 vertical posts which match the one at the foot. A complex linkage joins this to a shaft which enters a sealed metal case painted black. This is fixed to the varnished wooden base by massive nuts and bolts. A brass pedal with the words 'DU COMMUN GIROT' impressed on it projects of one side of the casing. On the base near the foot of the cradle is a brass plate with 'A.KEENS' impressed in it. There is also a metal spanner and a serrated metal bar with a loop at one end. Total number of items is five
Marks and inscriptions
Brass pedal on wooden base: DU COMMUN GIROT Base near the foot of the cradle: A.KEENS