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Anti-suffragette doll
Anti-suffragette 'voodoo doll' sent anonymously to a woman in west Wales.
Crudely made, standing upright on a base. The doll is wearing a brown dress and hat and holds a poster. The head is a ping-pong ball as its head. Features, spectacles and hair are painted with black ink on the head. Brown cotton twill fabric dress is made up from six pieces of fabric and is applied over a padded core and twisted around wire arms. Seams are machine-stitched with white thread. The same fabric is used for the hat where it has been adhered to card. The hat is constructed of three elements: crown, sides and brim which are held together with glue. A decorative brown feather is inserted into a hole between the sides and the brim. Collar and small tie are painted onto upper part of torso with white, black and red paint. The doll's feet are made from black cotton sateen and feet are stitched to a small square platform so that the figurine stands upright. Platform is covered in pale grey-green fabric (glazed cotton or silk?, unbalanced weave of thin warps and thick wefts) which has been adhered in place and the base is finished with adhered paper which has a yellow coating. The at is pierced with eight glass-headed pins (five black and three white). Two of these extend long enough to protrude from the ping-pong ball head and fix the head to the neck. In addition, there is a steel-headed pin and a further pin which appears to have lost its head. Further holes in hat, as well as in nose and neck area, suggest that there were once further pins, or that the doll had additional stitching to hold it together Three small steel-headed pins and one large, thick, long pin with a silver-coloured head (of different metal) pierce her chest. A stiff paper poster reading 'VOTES FOR WOMEN' in black ink is pinned to the front of the skirt with white glass headed pins and one which has lost its head. The doll's arms are arranged as though she is holding it.