Wooden doll
Category
Dolls
Date
Unknown
Materials
Wooden doll, gesso, metal, textiles
Measurements
550 mm (height)
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 660904
Summary
A wooden doll with gesso covering on her face and body. The head and body are in a single piece, with painted (cracked) gesso on the face and body. She has painted facial features with rosy cheeks, bulging blue eyes, and mid-brown hair, possibly real, styled in curls around her face. She has leather arms from which the stuffing is missing, and no right hand (the ends of the arms are sealed with pieces of sticking plaster). Her wooden legs are jointed at the hip and knee. She is wearing a pale green linen dress with a pattern of brown leaves, stems and flowers (with some white among the petals). It has a long, full skirt and long, very full sleeves, gathered at the shoulder and cuffs. The tight-fitting bodice has diagonal pleats from each shoulder to the centre front. This fastens at the back of the neck with a large hook and eye, and has a large hole in the right-hand side of the back. Underneath she has a long, white, linen petticoat, the skirt gathered at the waist into a bodice which fastens at the back by means of two tape ties at the waist and a length of string threaded through the neck edge. This garment appears to have sleeves but it is impossible to see inside the dress sleeves. Underneath this is a cream flannel waist petticoat, tied at the back with tape ties, and under this is a straight white linen garment which possibly does not have sleeves but is fastened at the back by means of string threaded through the neck edge. She also wears a pair of long, white, linen pantaloons which have two frills at the ankles and fasten at the back with tape ties. On her feet she has socks knitted in stripes of cream, grey, brown and purple wool, and on her head is a brown and yellow silk bonnet. Mainly brown, this has a yellow lining on a frill round the back neck and on the large frill round the face (which has wire inserted at the edge to form the shape). Wide yellow striped ribbon is used for a bow on top of the head.