Home made doll
Category
Dolls
Date
Unknown
Materials
Nutmeg, wood, cotton, straw, leather, silk and foil
Measurements
Doll - 118 mm (height), Hat - 40 mm (diameter), Basket - 45 mm (diameter)
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 660892
Caption
This little homemade doll has a very unusual item for a head - a nutmeg!
Summary
A small home made doll on a stand, handmade from different materials, box label calls her 'Hannah'. The painted head is a covered nutmeg. It has moulded nose and chin, painted facial features and hair. The body is solid, the arms are leather strips and the legs could be the same but covered in a linen type fabric. She is dressed in a pink cotton dress, with a gathered neckline, long sleeves, and wide belt. Underneath are pale pink silk knickers. Brown leather shoes form her feet. She has a detachable plaited straw hat in cream and red with pink and green ribbons and a straw shopping basket containing foil wrapped 'tins'. She is held upright by a wooden stand threaded under her belt. Total number of items is 3.
Provenance
Donated to the Museum of Childhood by Miss J C Hart in 1974, when she added the note 'She was made (entirely - hat, basket and all) by an old lady of 81, out of twigs, a nutmeg for her head, pieces from her scrap bag, and [raffia] from her garden basket. We have had to renew the 'shopping' from time to time, otherwise she is still her old self, and now rather a 'museum piece'!'