Doll

I

Introduction

Doll, figure resembling a human being, usually small and in three dimensions. About 1700 the term came to mean a child's plaything, but the earliest such objects had a religious significance, and certain cultures continue to use dolls in religious ceremonies.

II

Ancient Dolls

Dolls fashioned of flat pieces of wood, painted with geometric designs and with “hair” made of strings of clay or wooden beads, have been found in Egyptian graves dating from 3000 to 2000 bc. The presence of such dolls in children's tombs suggests that they were cherished possessions as well as cult objects, like the shawabtis, or tomb figures buried with adults to serve them in the afterworld. Dolls were also buried in Greek and Roman children's graves.

Most ancient dolls that were found in children's tombs were unpretentious, humble creations, made of common clay, rags, wood, or bone; better examples were fashioned of ivory, wax, or terra-cotta (a baked reddish-brown clay). Evidently the objective was to produce a lifelike image. Indeed, some dolls made as early as 600 bc had movable limbs and removable garments.

III

Ritual Use of Dolls

Since the Middle Ages (5th century to 15th century), the crèche, with its doll figures of the Holy Family, has been a part of Christmas observations in many parts of the world. The religious use of dolls or doll-like figures persists in other modern Christian observances. In Mexico, for example, dolls representing Our Lady of Guadalupe are ceremonially paraded. Fertility rites involving the kachina dolls of the Hopi people represent another continuation of ancient practice. These cottonwood or cactus-root figures are given to children but are regarded as sacred objects, not as toys. In Japan, children's festivals, which have been performed annually for almost a thousand years, involve dolls representing historic figures.

---

---

IV

Early European Dolls

The first dolls known to have been commercially produced as children's playthings were made in Germany in the early 15th century in factories at Nürnberg, Augsburg, and Sonneberg. Production methods were crude; the products, costumed to represent German women of the time, were made of wood, clay, rags, and wax.

Beginning in the 15th century, manufacturers in England, France, Holland, Italy, and Germany began to produce dolls dressed in fashions typical of their respective locales. The more ornately costumed “lady” or “fashion” dolls were often used by rulers and courtiers as gifts. By the 17th century, however, simpler dolls, made of cloth or leather, were used as playthings by boys and girls.

The 1600s saw several improvements in manufacturing. Dolls' heads were fashioned of glazed stoneware; later, manufacturers used tragacanth (a gum derived from an Asian plant) and alabaster (a soft gypsum resembling marble). In 1636 a doll with glass eyes that moved was offered in Holland, and in 1675 another manufacturer created dolls that wore wigs of human hair.

Until the 18th century Germany remained the leading producer of dolls and toys. Early in that century it was discovered that soft leather could be treated to feel like human skin and used to cover a doll's torso and limbs. Although virtually all dolls had been designed as adults up to 1710, one manufacturer then introduced a wax “baby” doll with movable eyes and a crying voice. In 1737 walking dolls were made in Paris. Dolls had begun to look, feel, and move more like humans, but the popularity of high-fashion “lady” dolls, typically manufactured in Paris, remained paramount. Such dolls were often used to illustrate style trends and were sent from one country to another to display the latest fashions.