Collections Online

Black 'composition' baby doll. Margaret Eckley, from Sully, played with this doll in the 1930s.

Constructed of 6 moveable parts: head, torso, two arms+two legs; head+limbs are fitted with metal hooks which connect onto elastic cord which is strung across the inside of the torso. Doll is wearing a white dress+cream coat; it has moulded hair, brown glass eyes with a self-closing mechanism+facial features painted on in red and black; mouth is slighly open, showing two teeth made out of thin card. It has a bare head+bare feet. Head&legs=poss.ceramic.

The doll is wearing a total of 7 layered items of clothing: 1. outer coat 2. white cotton outer dress 3. white cotton inner dress 4. sleeveless bodice 5. long stockinette vest top 6. red and white striped top 7. pair of white knickers

Outer coat: Outermost garment is a short-sleeved coat made of thin, cream tabby-woven wool fabric, constructed from 9 pieces of fabric: front (left+right), back, 2 pieces for each sleeve and 2 pieces for the collar (double-thickness). Machine-stitched using white thread, finished with French seams; turned hem along PL front opening is machine-stitched but the rest of the hem (along lower edge+up PR front opening) is finished with hand-stitched overcast stitches. Decorative line of running stitches along all edges: hand-stitched with pale blue silk thread (3-ply, S-twist); coat is fastened at neck with a (formerly) blue synthetic ribbon (twill weave), which is tied into a bow; the collar narrows slightly above the shoulders, but it then broadens out again across the back.

Outer dress: Long, short-sleeved, white dress made out of fine, tabby woven cotton. It has strips of white bobbin lace at the cuffs and at the waist (separating the bodice and the skirt). The skirt has three decorative stitched horizontal pleats and a deep (c. 6.3cm) turn-back at the hem. The pleats are machine stitched but the hem is stitched with very fine hand-sewn stitches. The upper edge of the skirt is gathered into the lace at the waist. The skirt is made from two pieces of fabric: There is a machine-stitched French seam at the centre back and a short distance to the PR, (c. 9cm at the hem) there is a second, hand-stitched, seam of fine running stitches which join two selvage edges. The bodice is made from three pieces of fabric: a piece at the front and two pieces making up the back, with machine-stitched seams at sides, under arm and along tops of arms + shoulders. The neck line of the bodice has been stitched into four small pleats. The back has an opening down to the waist (i.e. the two pieces of fabric are not joined) and is fastened with a small mother-of-pearl button at CB neck.

Inner dress: Made from the same material as outer dress. This dress is shorter and sleeveless but it also has the three pleats on the skirt and a deep turn back at the hem. It is made from a single piece of fabric with a machine-stitched seam on the PL side. The PR side is also seamed up in order the shape the dress so that it becomes narrower towards the top (but it is continuous at the hem of the skirt). The seam allowances at sides and at tops of shoulders are unfinished (raw edges), but neck and arm holes have double turn-backs which are hand-stitched with small overcast stitches.

Sleeveless bodice: white, short sleeveless bodice with 3 button fastening along front opening. Made from 4 pieces (2 front, 2 back) of a thick, textured cotton fabric which has cotton tapes (width = 11mm) diagonally applied to the surface at intervals. Machine-stitched single turn-back at lower edge; neck and arm holes finished with overlocking stitches. Each of the three buttons is different: the top button is of a cream-coloured ceramic? material, the centre one is dark mother-of-pearl and the lowest one is white ceramic?. The buttons are attached to the PL side; that side is 3cm longer than the PR side with the button holes. In-line with the buttons is what appears to have been a loop made of narrow tape (width = 5mm); the loops have all broken and there are now only two short lengths of fraying tape at each point; it is not clear whether the buttons were originally attached to this tape, or whether the loops were originally used in place of button holes (meaning the buttons themselves would have had to have been attached to the PR side). At the bottom of the PL edge is another set of ends of narrow tape, but because this side is much longer than the opposite side, and doesn't meet with a corresponding button hole, it doesn't have a button.

Long stockinette vest top: Made out of a single tube of cream coloured stockinette (finely knitted) fabric; bottom edge is unfinished, arm holes and neck are finished with machine stitches. Underarms are reinforced by a c. 3cm long line of machine stitches; neck is trimmed with synthetic lace through which a narrow white twill synthetic ribbon is threaded to tie at CF. A 2.2cm wide woven maker's label is machine stitched to the inner CB neck.

Red and white striped top: made from relatively open weave, tabby woven cotton fabric with red vertical stripes printed onto a white ground. Both white and red stripes are 2mm wide. Made from a single piece of fabric: oval cut-out at neck, slightly extending into very short sleeves, seamed along side edges, open at CB with unfinished edges. The neck is trimmed with white cotton lace; a white cotton thread is stitched and threaded through the lace and the top edge of the neck with large tacking stitches. This thread is tied off at the CB, fastening the garment.

The front waist and edges of sleeves are trimmed with a gold coloured ribbon with flat warps of gold coloured metal wire and a thin red weft introduced in a zig-zag line (i.e. not woven tightly but very loosely, in a tabby construction; there are c. 4 wefts per cm) The wefts are made from Z-spun singles yarns (probably synthetic). The selvages consist of two red threads (same as weft). The metal ribbon is c. 6mm wide = 12 metal warps (i.e. each warp is c. 0.4mm wide). Raw edges on seam allowances on the inside; machine stitched side seams and single turn-back at hem. Edges of sleeves also unfinished; lying underneath the metal ribbon trim.

A round card label has been attached to the metal ribbon trim at CF waist with a white metal clip; it has a diameter of Ø3.5cm & is printed in red+green onto gold metallic ground. It depicts a peacock making a wheel of red feathers. The reverse of the label shows the light brown colour of the card.

White knickers: Made from thick white, twill cotton fabric with a raised nap. Made from 3 pieces all joined with French seams (at sides, crotch+CB); leg holes finished with hand stitched double-turn-back. Channel stitched along waist for insertion of elasticated drawstring (black strands of rubber encased in light grey/silver coloured synthetic fabric) All French seams are stitched in such a way that the edges of the fabric protrude from the seam and are visible on the outer face of the fabric. At the CB, the protruding fabric reveals that the edges are selvages.

The two innermost layers (striped top and stockinette vest) were tucked into the knickers.

Number markings on the doll: The head fits over a convex, cup-shaped piece of card which is visible through the neck opening; the number '11' is imprinted onto the card in relief. The metal hook which connects the head to the torso is attached to this piece of card, on which the cylinder of the neck can move around freely. The numbers 333 + 6 are incised onto the composition material on the reverse of the neck. Above the numbers is an 8-pointed star (made from 8 lines); Each limb has the number '50' incised at the upper, inner thigh+under arm.

Undressing the doll revealed that it is fitted with a circular, plastic voice box, set into the upper back (no longer working). It has a pattern of holes which are covered with an adhered piece of loose-weave pink cotton fabric (muslin?).