Bisque shoulder-head doll
Category
Dolls
Date
circa 1894
Materials
Bisque shoulder-headed doll, composition, flannel, wool, cotton and mohair
Measurements
185 mm (width); 290 mm (height); 75 mm (depth)
Order this imageCollection
Sudbury Hall Museum of Childhood, Derbyshire
NT 663473
Summary
One of two dolls owned by sisters Edith and Selina. Selina died when ages only seven, and her doll was packed away whilst Edith continued to play with hers. Selina's doll. A bisque shoulder-head doll, with a stuffed cloth body and thighs, and composition arms and legs up to the knee. The doll has blue inset fixed glass eyes and the face is painted with brown eyelashes and eyebrows and pink cheeks and lips. The doll's hair is shoulder-length and blonde, possibly made of mohair. The doll is wearing white cotton pantaloons with lace edging around the calf, above this a woollen cream and blue crocheted undergarment dress with a flounced edge, then a white cotton underskirt with pin-tuck decoration and lace edging. The outer dress is a thin cream flannel with puffy elbow-length sleeves and a large lace collar. A matching cream flannel bonnet is decorated with blue ribbon and the gathered rim has two layers, flannel above and satin below. The doll also wears calf-length white socks of very fine wool, and black paper shoes with 'patent' effect uppers and light brown soles. The shoes are decorated with blue ribbon and metal buckles. The flannel dress is quite badly moth-eaten, particularly on the back where there are two large holes. The arms are dirty and worn and the fingers of the right hand have snapped off. The nose has been abraded on the tip. The left paper shoe is badly split and both are scuffed. The cotton underskirt had a hole in the back which has been roughly sewn, bunching the material.